


Puppy Love

by Pyr0_Kat



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Super Sons (Comics), Superman (Comics)
Genre: Animal Transformation, Hijinks & Shenanigans, M/M, Non-Consensual Kissing, Sexuality Crisis, This Is STUPID
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:53:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 38,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24318370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pyr0_Kat/pseuds/Pyr0_Kat
Summary: It was a lot warmer in California than it was in New York right now, but there was a nice breeze shaking the foliage around him, sending the waves of the San Francisco bay crashing against the rocks at the base of the Titan's island. It was relaxing.Jon wondered where Damian was at that very moment. Could he feel the heat? Could he hear the river, or the bustle of the town?Jon jumped at the sound of something making a sudden noise right in front of him. His eyes flew open, and he had to take a few seconds to blink the sun spots out of his vision before it could focus.Sitting in front of him was a cat. Relatively small, pure black with short hair, and piercing green eyes.“Oh.” Jon stared in surprise. He didn’t realize there were any animals on the island other than birds. And Garfeild, he guessed. And sometimes Goliath. “Hey there,” he greeted, holding out his hand, a smile pulling at his lips. “Aren’t you a cute kitty?”
Relationships: Clark Kent & Jonathan Samuel Kent, Jonathan Kent/Damian Wayne, Jonathan Samuel Kent & Damian Wayne, Jonathan Samuel Kent & Lois Lane, Kon-El | Conner Kent & Jonathan Samuel Kent
Comments: 126
Kudos: 337





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> please head the 'this is STUPID' tag. Quarantine has gotten to me.

_“Robin, we’re missing you at the rendezvous and we can’t get a read on your position. Where are you? Are you ok?”_

Damian ducked sharply, narrowly avoiding a bolt of crimson lightning flying at his head. He rolled behind some shelving units as the lighting stuck the concrete wall, exploding into a shower of gravel and dust. His assailant cried out petulantly. “Stop moving!”

In his moment of reprieve, he held up his wrist, speaking into the communicator. “I'm in a basement of some kind,” He rushed out, breathlessly.

 _“Are you fighting?”_ Gar’s voice cut through the microphone in his ear unpleasantly. _“Did you find the witch boy?”_

“Stop hiding so much!” A bolt of lighting struck dangerously close to Damian’s shoulder, clipping the rack he was leaning against. “Come back here so I can kill you!”

Damian grimaced, face screwing up in annoyance. His voice was even more grating than Garfeild’s. “Affirmative.” He slipped out a batarang, holding it between his fingers. “The target’s name is _Klarion_. Kid Flash, see if there’s any files on him in the Batcomputer archives.” Damian flicked his hand, sending the batarang flying in a wide arc. As it flew at Klarion head on, Damian quickly moved around the opposite side, sending five more batagrangs flying at him in quick succession. 

_“Uh,”_ He heard Wally stutter in his ear as he watched Klarion mutter a quick spell under his breath, his body turning incorporeal just long enough for each of the six batarangs to phase through him harmlessly. As his form regained opacity, he locked eyes with Damian and grinned wickedly. 

_I hate magic._ Damian groaned internally as he was forces to strategically retreat again, as Klarion was now lobbing balls of red flames at him.

_“Uh, yeah, I’m— do I need to enter any codes to access the batcomputer, or—"_

_“I thought we weren't supposed to engage the target on our own?”_ Raven interrupted.

Damian tossed one last batarang as he flipped behind some crates for cover, making Klarion pause in his volley to cast a red shield of light for the batagrang to bounce off of.

“Nevermind that,” He hissed into his communicator. The witch boy had actually taken Damian by surprise, appearing to block the entrance after Damian had entered a room to investigate a noise he had heard that sounded _suspiciously_ like a cat meowing— but the team didn’t need to know all the details. “Just follow the sound of explosions. And Kid Flash, I need those files!”

“I _said_ to stop hiding!” The crates behind him were suddenly enveloped in a glowing light, jerking up sharply to reveal Damian’s crouched form.

Damian slipped out a few smoke pellets, throwing them to the floor before Klarion had even finished speaking.

 _“I’m trying, man! I’m not exactly a tech wizard.”_ Wally complained, his mic just barely picking up his frantic typing. Damian raced through the smoke to hide behind a different shelving unit, narrowly avoiding several bolts of lighting thrown blindly through the fog. 

He slipped quietly into his new position and held perfectly still, chest heaving. “I hear you talking to your friends!” Klarion cried out indignantly. Damian cringed from how shrill his voice was. “ _So_ not fair! Pay attention to _me!_ ” A glob of fire was tossed randomly into the room, landing behind a shelf a few rows down from Damian.

 _“Beast Boy isn’t able to hear your fighting.”_ Kori said into Damian’s ear. 

“ _He must have cast some sort of secluding spell, it’s why we can’t read your position either.”_ Raven surmised.

Jackson spoke up for the first time. _“We’re all racing downstairs, though. We’ll find wherever you’re at, just hold tight.”_

 _I really hate magic._ Damian’s head thumped softly onto the metal shelf behind him, and he took a moment to breath as Klarion’s temper tantrum increased, fire and lighting firing off randomly around the room, various storage supplies crashing and exploding. The building wasn't small, it could take the Titans a while to find him without auditory clues.

But the truth that he would never tell his teammates was that Damian was _tired._ They all were, of course, because he had been pushing them nearly nonstop for the last few days. Wally had broken his _leg_ at their last location, courtesy of their previous near-encounter with Klarion— or as they knew him at the time, the havoc-wrecking witch boy who had recently shown up in San Francisco out of the blue. They hadn’t even seen him that time, just heard his echoing laughter as a thin layer of ice formed over the ground they stood on, sending Wally careening out of control at a speed high enough to snap his bone on his impact with the brick wall. And after they made their way back to the tower, Kori carrying Wally and tying his leg into a stint, instead of calling it a night like everyone had wanted, Damian insisted they explore the secondary location. Nevermind it was nearing midnight at the time, and was now well past two AM. 

To be fair, he didn’t actually expect to find their target at _both_ locations. The only break he had was that Klarion been kind enough to introduce himself before shooting evil red magic at Damian, intent on killing him.

A bolt of something hit the corner of Damian’s shelf, knocking down a box of tools. They clattered over Damian’s right hand, and he flinched, grabbing his knuckle and biting his lip. His eyes caught on a patch of tabby orange in the far corner of the room as he turned his head, drawing his attention with its stark contrast from the greys of the room.

So there _was_ a cat. It sat pristine, running a paw repeatedly over its ear, resting on a cardboard box bathed in the streetlight trickling in from the window well high in the corner. Damian was surprised it appeared so calm, with Klarion’s increasing whining and volatility at which he was hurling his magic, especially as he switched to throwing crates and shelves around the room at random.

 _“Robin, I found something.”_ Wally spoke again suddenly, his words coming out in a rush. _“Klarion has a familiar named Teekle, it channels his magic, and like— ties his form to the physical plane? Or something? It’s an orange cat.”_

“Understood.” Damian hissed into his communicator, reaching into a new pocket on his utility belt. Rest time was up. He let muscle memory take over, throwing a handful of pellets over his left shoulder, down the farthest aisle. They lit up like firecrackers as they made contact with the ground, making a series of loud popping noises. 

“ _There you are!”_ Klarion cried out, throwing the current shelf he was holding in the direction of the noise. Damian however was already leaping into action, batarang slipping into his hand as he rushed at Teekle. He closed the distance quickly, and raised his arm as he neared the cat. He was less than a moment away from letting the batarang fly when his mind caught up to his body, and he saw the cat’s fur bristle out, it’s previously relaxed position tense up, head turning back in a flinch as the small creature braced itself for the impact it knew it had no chance of avoiding— and Damian hesitated. His body froze for just a moment, barely a heartbeat, as he stared at the frightened, defenseless animal that had to pay for its master’s crimes. That moment was long enough.

Klarion shouted some spell, and Damian was frozen in place, a translucent red glow encapsulating his body.

“Ah-hah!” Klarion shouted triumphantly, and Teekle slowly uncurled itself, fur starting to lie flat as it realized it had been spared. “Gotcha, ya little _twerp._ ”

Klarions footsteps echoed down the room quickly, and Teekle jumped off of its cardboard boxes, meowing softly.

“Of course he didn’t hit you, _I_ stopped him!” Klarion stepped into Damian’s field of vision, bending down to pick up Teekle. He held the orange cat up to his face, making loud kissing noises. Damian channeled as much contempt through his gaze as he could, muscles straining to break through whatever kind of binding magic he was caught in.

Klarion finally lowered his cat, holding it close to his chest and stroking its head as he returned Damian’s glare, puckering his lips into a pout. “ _You!_ I can’t believe you! Attacking a defenseless kitty cat. What kind of monster are you?”

Damian desperately wished he could retort. Teekle meowed again, drawing away Klarion’s attention. “What? No, _I_ saved you! I stopped him! You dumb cat,” He softened his insult by scratching Teekle behind the ear, and it meowed again, more insistently. It reminded Damian of when he missed Alfred’s dinner time.

_(Curse his weakness for cute animals.)_

Klarion’s gaze shot up again, squinting disapprovingly at Damian. “Is that true? Did you stop right before hitting him?”

Damian wanted to punch this witch boy in his infuriating face. His shrill voice had given him a headache the second he opened his mouth, and now that his adrenaline was dropping, each word out of his mouth was like a hammer strike on the nail in his head.

 _“Mmuurr..”_ Teekle growled slightly. Klarion looked back to the cat. 

“ _What_ ? Why _can’t_ we just kill him?” he whined.

Damian wasn’t fully convinced that Klarion could _actually_ communicate with his cat, but if the cat was fighting for Damian’s survival, then he suddenly hoped that the other boy was delusional enough to listen to it.

“ _Meeoo-oow,”_

“ _Uggghh,”_ Klarion groaned, throwing his head back dramatically. “ _Fii-iine!”_ He started pacing around Damian, stroking Teekle’s back. “Just letting him go is out of the question, though— I have a reputation to uphold! What to do, what to do...” 

Damian weighed how much he wanted out of this situation against the embarrassment of the Teen Titans walking in on _this_ scene. He wasn’t sure which he’d prefer. 

“ _Muurow.”_

“What? Say that again?” Klarion stopped at Damian’s side, holding Teekle out so the witch and cat were face to face. Damian strained his eyes to see his expression as Teekle meowed again.

Klarion’s face broke into an ear-splitting grin, his mouth stretching _just_ beyond that of a normal human. Against his initial assessment of Klarion as just another B-lister, he felt actual dread pool in his stomach. That smile could give Joker a run for his money.

“Oh _yes._ ” Klarion set the cat down, and Teekle padded away, jumping back onto the cardboard boxes and curling its plush tail around its paws, looking very pleased with itself.

“ _Yes,”_ Klarion continued, circling around fully to face Damian head on again. “ _That_ is a _beautiful_ idea.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd say this is the dumbest shit I've ever written but I already posted an 80k+ lego fanfiction on this site, so. This one just has a much higher chance of being found by my friends.
> 
> Goin for shorter chapters this time, but with more frequent updates. Please go into this with low expectations im begging you


	2. "Is everything alright?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian isn't texting Jon back :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> by the way Superman #7 never happened Jon is still baby and Damian is still 3 years older than him

There was, assuredly, at this moment, no one in the world suffering more than Jonathen Kent.

 _“Whyyyy…”_ He whined out, head thumping onto his desk.

There was a soft knock on his bedroom door before it creaked open. “Everything alright, Jon?”

Jon picked his head back up, looking back dejectedly at his dad standing in the doorway. His bulky shoulders dwarfed the frame.

“Grades came out for the essays we turned in on Monday,” Jon moaned, turning back to his computer screen and burying his head in his hands. “I got a C plus.”

Clark stepped fully into the room to walk up behind Jon and patted his back gently. “A C plus isn’t awful,” he comforted. “Why didn’t you ask for help? Your parents are both writers, you should use us.”

Jon let his hands fall off of his face, pursing his lips as he closed the tab with his updated grade. “Damian usually helps me with my essays and math homework,” He said, carefully dodging the question. The real truth was that his dad was already so busy with his work as Superman that Jon didn’t want to waste his time with his freshman homework. And, shockingly— or unshockingly, depending on how well you knew Jon’s mom— Damian was a more forgiving editor than Lois Lane. “He’s just been ignoring me the last week.”

Clark wrinkled his eyebrows, glasses falling down his nose. “Did you two get into an argument?”

“No!” Jon switched from pouty to indignant in an instant. “Or if we did, I don’t know about it! He was supposed to come over last Friday to help me with that essay, but he didn’t even text me about not showing up. Same with today, because I have my last final due _next_ Monday, but it’s already six and he hasn’t even opened any of my messages all week.”

Clark patted his shoulder, smiling apologetically. “Well, you know how he can be.”

“Yeah, but usually he at least _opens_ my messages so I _know_ he’s ignoring me on purpose.” Jon shut his laptop and sank into his chair, crossing his arms. 

Clark gave Jon’s shoulder one last squeeze before letting go. “I’m sure he’ll come back around. And until then, you have two perfectly willing parents to help you out. Oh, but— not tonight, I’m working a case with Barry in the Watchtower.”

Jon’s answer was well rehearsed. “That’s ok. Are you staying for dinner?”

Jon knew the answer before his dad even spoke just by his pained smile. “No, sorry. It’s already 9 on the west coast, so Barry’s going to want to get started sooner rather than later. Have fun with your mom though, alright?”

“Alright, dad.” Jon got up to hug his dad, who enveloped him tightly, placing a kiss on his hairline. As Clark left the room, Jon collapsed onto his bed, pulling out his phone.

Jon still couldn’t help but feel resentment for Damian suddenly ghosting him. After four years of friendship with Damian Wayne, he _should_ have been used to everything the tiny ex-assassin could throw at him— both figuratively and literally, on his bad days. But Damian had been having less and less bad days over the past few years, which is probably why Jon was feeling extra hurt by his sudden aloofness. Not even a text to cancel? Just pure coldness? It felt like a hard regression for his friend. 

That, and it was the end of the school year, of Jon’s _first year_ in highschool, and Damian promised that he’d help him study. That C+ was _Damian’s_ fault.

After a few hours of zoning out in his room watching YouTube videos to unwind, Jon started to feel restless. Tuning in to the whole apartment, he heard his mom moving around in the kitchen, so he hopped out of bed.

He walked in on her pulling a plate out of the microwave. “Hey, sweetie.” She greeted, pulling Jon in for a quick side hug, kissing his temple. “Sorry I don’t have time to cook something tonight, I need to finish this piece for tomorrow. We still have spaghetti leftovers, though!” 

“That’s fine, mom. I was thinking I’d patrol tonight,” Jon spoke as he grabbed his own plate, moving to the fridge to serve himself.

“Don’t you have finals next week?”

“Yeah, but I need a break from the constant studying or my brain will like, _explode._ ” Jon exemplified his point by dropping a fork full of cold spaghetti onto his plate. Lois raised a skeptical eyebrow as she sat back down in front of her laptop. Family dinners were more Clark’s sensibilities than Lois’, so whenever his dad was out of the house, they usually ate separately, or his mom brought her work to the living room. What Clark didn't know didn't hurt him.

“And is that what you’ve been doing since you got home? Studying?”

Jon fidgeted as he waited by the microwave. “Well, I checked my grades. Damian was supposed to study with me, but he’s been ignoring me. I was actually thinking about swinging by Gotham, since I haven’t heard from him.”

“Gotham?” His mom’s attention never diverted from her screen, but her eyebrows shot up incredulously. “I don’t think I want you going to Gotham alone at this time of night.”

Jon scoffed. “C’mon, Mom. It’s barely dark out.” It was just past eight, and the weather had just started to turn for the better over the last few weeks as summer drew nearer.

“But it _will_ get dark by the time you get over there.”

Jon knew better than to argue with his mom, so he turned to mope into his food until he was struck with a new idea. “What about Blüdhaven?”

“Hm?” Lois had barely touched her food. Jon knew he had a better chance the more engaged she was in her work. 

“Can I go to Blüdhaven to ask Dick about Damian? He probably has a better idea where he is than Batman, anyways.”

Lois hummed thoughtfully, Jon holding his breath. “Sure, Dick is nice. Just be home before midnight, alright? You need to focus on school right now.”

“Of course!” Jon agreed, shoveling the rest of his dinner in his mouth with new vigor. “Thanks mom!”

“Mmhm,” Lois hummed. Jon dropped his plate in the sink, speeding over to kiss his mom on the cheek before vanishing down the hall and back into his room in a rush of wind. “No super speed in the house!” Lois called after him.

By the time she had finished talking, Jon was already back in the kitchen, fully dressed in his superboy jacket and jeans, fake glasses discarded onto his desk. “Sorry!” he called without a hint of remorse. “I’ll be back before curfew!” 

He was already out the balcony and taking off, but his hearing instinctively turned into his mom’s voice as she scoffed fondly, muttering “Just like your father...”

Jon smiled widely as he flew above the highrises and business offices of Metropolis. Comparing him to his father was the highest praise he could imagine— even if Damian tried to use it as an insult more than once.

His smile faded as he quickly reached the edge of the city. _Right,_ he thought. _Damian._

Damian was lucky Jon was so forgiving, else they would’ve had a very short friendship. Things had been going well, though— or so Jon had thought. It’d been three whole years since the last time Damian had legitimately tried to kill him. That was longer than some of Damian's _brothers_ could say. They still had their arguments, because peace is _never_ an option when you’re friends with Damian Wayne, but they almost never got into brawls anymore. They’d both grown a lot. Damian was seventeen, and Jon was fourteen, turning fifteen next month.

When he reached Blüdhaven, he was still turning over his imaginary confrontation with Damian in his head— where he’d say all the right words, and Damian would apologize, and they’d hug and make up, and Jon passed all his classes with perfect scores.

He landed on a roof at random. Blüdhaven wasn’t a small city by any means, but it had fewer towers and more space between each building than Metropolis. Jon didn’t usually have reason to come here. Jon liked Dick, though, and he was infinitely more approachable than Batman— even though Jon had inarguably interacted with the dark knight twice as many times as he’d interacted with Dick. 

It’d taken him less than ten minutes to fly over at a leisurely speed, but the sunset was already starting to fade, a few street lights flickering on below him. He didn’t know where Dick lived, so he cast out his hearing, trying to catch a trace of Nightwing.

However, he was quickly distracted by a small confrontation just a few streets over.

“Don’t _touch_ me,” A feminine voice snapped.

“Come on, honey,” A much deeper voice slurred. “We’re just giving you a compliment. Why don’t you smile more?” 

Honing in his vision, he spotted a woman wearing a thin coat over some kind of dancer costume, with three clearly intoxicated men boxing her in against the brick wall of a bar. 

Jon was there within a second, stepping between Surly Man #1 and the woman, forcing him to stumble back. “I don’t think she’s interested, sir.” All four people around him jerked back in surprise at his sudden appearance. “You should respect her boundaries.”

The three men stared at him, blinking hard. _Right, they’re not used to that around here._

“You—” A different one than the man who had been grabbing the woman’s arm came to his senses first, and for that, Jon dubbed him Surly Man #2. “Hey, kid, get lost. What the hell do you think you’re doin’ out here?”

Jon put his pointer finger on his chin, making an exaggerated motion of thinking hard about his answer. “ _Well,_ it’s barely nine, so if anything, you guys went drinking way too early. And three on one hardly seems fair, right?”

“You don’t know what you’re talkin about, kid,” Surly Man #3 growled, taking a threatening step forward. “Now get the hell out of here, if you know what’s good for ya.”  
“It’s fine,” The woman spoke up, placing a hand on his shoulder. Jon turned back to meet her eye, and she looked more scared now than before he had gotten there. “This is very sweet of you, but I can handle myself, ok? Get on your way now, you hear?”

Jon stared at her, and lowered his eyes to the _S_ emblem on his chest. He looked back up at her. Her concern morphed into confusion, and then into shock as the realization dawned on her. _What, do people think this is just a stylish jacket?_ Jon knew his hero look was casual, but that’s because he valued _comfort_ when fighting. And he was already bulletproof, so there was no need for armour.

“You deaf? Why are you still here?” Surly Man #1 grabbed his other shoulder and spun him back around, looming over him. “You best learn to listen,” He hissed, raising his arm and throwing all his weight into a punch aimed at Jon’s jaw.

Jon caught his fist in his palm, and held it there as Surly Man #1 stumbled from the imbalance. Jon moved the fist aside, making eye contact with the man. He made the same motion to his chest than he did with the woman, even underlining it with his other hand. “ _Really?_ I mean, it’s not like you guys weren't _warned._ ” 

“We- we wern’t doin’ anything!” Surly man #3 piped up, the shortest of the bunch. He was holding his hands up and taking a step back. “Honest, we were just complimenting her!”  
“Just bein’ nice!” Surly Man #2 added on, similarly panicked.

Jon looked back to Surly Man #1 and saw that his face had paled considerably. Jon let his fist go, and he immediately snatched it to his chest, stepping back. “It’s not nice to grab people without their consent,” Jon scolded them, placing his hands on his hips. “Or to try and beat up a ‘kid’ for stepping up to help.”

Surly Man #1 was still backing up, his friends close to his sides. “Yeah yeah, alright, but we didn’t do nuthin, right? We’re goin now, right?” 

The other two voiced their opinions, and they all turned away, quickly walking down the street, throwing quick glances back to make sure Jon wasn’t following them.  
Jon stared them down until they turned the first street corner. As they disappeared, he turned back to the woman. “Are you alright, m’am?”

The woman was holding her fingers over her lips, long fake fingernails tickling the bottom of her nose. “Oh, oh yes, thank you!” She breathed out shakily. “I was so scared— not for me, I— I deal with that almost every time I get off work, but, oh— you nearly have me a heart attack!” 

The woman swatted his arm, and Jon ducked his head, smiling sheepishly. “I’m sorry. Do you have a safe way home, m’am?”

“Oh, stop that _m’am_ business, I’m only twenty six.” the woman carefully wiped a finger under her eye, expertly wiping away a tear without smudging her heavy mascara. “Yes, I’m waiting for my Uber. Thank you.”

“Of course.” Jon smiled widely, folding his hands behind his back. “Is it alright if I wait with you?”

He stood against the bar with the woman for the next ten minutes, making polite conversation. She felt guilty for not recognizing him sooner— her daughter, apparently, was a very big fan of Robin, and had named one of her stuffed animals Superboy. Jon was delighted to learn this.

When her Uber arrived, Jon waved her off, watching the car disappear in the distance.

“Hey, baby blue. What brings you into town?”

Jon looked up, and found a familiar blue and black spandex-clad man sitting on the edge of the bar’s roof, feet dangling over the neon sign. “Nightwing!” Jon greeted cheerfully, flying up to meet him.

Dick rolled backwards, hopping up onto his feet to greet Jon. “Superboy,” he saluted with two fingers, smirking.

“I’m, uh— I’m here about Robin, actually.” Jon explained, touching down on the gravel on the roof.

Dick’s smirk slipped. “Is everything alright?”

“No no no—” Jon waved his arms in front of him, embarrassed. “I just mean— He’s been ignoring me, and I don’t know why. I was hoping you could get me in touch with him? Or something?”

“Ah,” Dick’s smile came back easily, and he shrugged. “Sorry, Robin hasn’t been here in a while— or even in Gotham. Last I heard, he was in San Francisco with the Teen Titans.”

“Oh.” Jon tried not to sound disappointed, but he could tell he failed because Dick patted his shoulder. The Teen Titans were a bit of a sore subject between him and Damian. Since they were kids, Damian was adamant about not allowing Jon to join, since Jon was only ten at the time. Now he was fourteen, though, and in the almost exact 2 years since he officially became a teenager, Damian had been suddenly tight-lipped about anything to do with the Teen Titans. “Well, thanks.”

“He usually spends a month or so with the Titans before coming back home. He’s been ignoring me too, so don’t take it personally, alright? You know how he gets.”

“Yeah.” Jon mustered up a smile. “Thanks for letting me know.”

Dick pursed his lips, keeping his hand on Jon’s shoulder, holding him on the roof. “Why don’t you go on down there to check on him?” He eventually suggested. 

Jon blinked. “Oh! Uh— really? You don’t think he’d just get all, yaknow. Mad?”

Dick laughed, letting his hand slide off of Jon’s shoulder. Jon smiled sheepishly at his reaction. “Of course he will, but someone has to come by to pull his head outta his own ass every once in a while. When was the last time you were down there, anyways?”

Jon scratched the back of his head, kicking the roof as he avoided eye contact. “Oh, uh, I dunno.” _Years._

“No harm in dropping by, right? Give him a reminder that there are people back home who miss him. And tell him to call me back when you see him, alright?”

Jon couldn’t help but mirror Dick’s smile. It was infectious. “Alright! I have to be home by midnight, so I can’t go tonight, but I’ll fly down there tomorrow.”

Dick’s expression brightened even further, a sharp contrast to the dark, gritty city surrounding them. “Glad to hear it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter actually has the bit from the summary, so stick around \o/


	3. "Where's Damian?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jon goes to San Francisco to check on Damian :)

Convincing his mom he had to go to San Francisco had been a little more challenging than convincing her to let him go to Blüdhaven. It involved several hours of actual studying, as well as cleaning all the dishes in the sink and doing his laundry. 

He’d finally gotten out of the house around midday, wanting an earlier start to make up for the timezone difference. His dad could’ve flown across the country in just a few seconds, but Jon was nowhere near as fast as his dad. _Yet._ Or maybe he’d never be as fast as Superman— he was half human, after all. 

As it was, flying as fast as he was comfortable, it took him about twenty minutes to finally touch down on top of the Titan Tower in California. He took a few moments to catch his breath, convincing himself his racing heartbeat was from the flight over.

 _So what if Damian doesn’t want me in the Teen Titans,_ Jon schooled his expression, brushing down his outfit as he entered in through the roof door, stepping down the stairs more quietly than perhaps necessary. _You’ve met the other Titans before. They’re cool. Just find Damian, tell him to read your texts and call Dick, and get out._

Would it be so bad if he stayed a bit longer, though? Caught up with the rest of the team? Coily mention that his summer started next week, and he’d be practically _swimming_ in free time, since he wasn’t a part of any teen-themed superhero group…

He stopped on the first floor that he heard someone moving around on. He wandered down a long hallway, hearing someone muttering to themself as they walked closer and closer to him. Turning a corner, he came almost nose to nose with Beast Boy— Garfield. 

The other boy was obviously taken off guard, shouting in surprise, jumping back and throwing his hands up, hands shaped like knives as they failed in front of his face.  
“Whoza whatsit—!!”

“Sorry!” Jon flew backwards, hovering a few inches off the ground. “I didn’t mean to surprise you!”

“Aaa— Superboy?” Garfield dropped his arms as quickly as he had raised them. “Whaddare you— How’d you get in here? What happened to our defense system?”

Jon smiled, letting his feet touch back on the ground. “I came in through the roof?”

He noticed that Garfield didn’t look that good. His hair was tousled, and he had deep green bags under his eyes. “Whatever, you’re probably on the safe list, anyways. Jon, right?”

Jon smiled, though a bit confused. “Yeah! Uh, safe list?”

Garfield rubbed his eye with the palm of his hand, walking around Jon and motioning him to follow. “The list of people who can come in without tripping the alarm. It’s not a long list, you should be honoured. I don't even think Batman is on the list.”

“Uh, thanks?” Jon followed him into an elevator. Garfield pushed a button, and they started moving down after the doors closed. “Anyways, I’m just here to check on Robin. Do you know where he is?”

Garfield barked out a laugh, a short, sharp sound that made Jon jump in surprise. “Hah, that _is_ the question, innit?”

“Uh…” Jon frowned as the elevator slowed to a stop. “Is everything alright?”

Garfield sighed as the elevators doors opened, revealing the large common area of the Titans Tower. “No,” He groaned. “No, not really.”

He followed Garfield into the large room. Kori, Raven, and Jackson were standing around a table, talking over something Jon couldn’t see. A boy with dark skin and loose fitting clothes that Jon hadn’t met before was laying haphazardly on a couch, his leg dangling off of the end, arm thrown over his face, mouth parted slightly.

Kori was the only one facing the elevator, so she was the first to notice Jon trail in behind Garfield. “Oh! Superboy!”

Jackson and Raven followed Kori’s attention to see Jon. Garfield collapsed on the couch on top of the other boy, rousing him from his sleep violently. Garfield morphed into a green sloth, clinging to him as he tried to throw him off.

“Jonathan Kent.” Raven greeted, nodding. “I’m sorry, but you’ve come at an… unfortunate time.”

Jackson beant over the table on his elbows, gripping the back of his neck. He blew a raspberry. “ _Ugh,_ that’s an understatement.”

Jon reassessed the room, even casting out his hearing to the rest of the tower to be extra sure. The boy on the couch was sitting up now, having given up on shaking the snoring green sloth that clung to his bicep. Everyone in the room looked exhausted, except maybe Raven, who always looked a little fatigued every time he’d met her.

Jon dreaded asking his next question, already fearing the answer. “Where’s Damian?”

There was a beat of silence. Kori answered first. “We are trying to find him,” she spoke gently, stepping away from the table.

“We lost track of him in a fight a week ago against a witch boy named Klarion,” The boy Jon didn’t know spoke up. “We’ve been looking for him non-stop since.

Jon opened and closed his mouth wordlessly before processing what he wanted to say. “Uhm… sorry, I don’t think I—”

“I’m Wally West,” The boy introduced himself, raising the arm Garfield was clinging to in greeting. “Kid Flash.”

“Right.” Jon nodded, not knowing what else to say.

“I’ve actually been here a while,” Wally went on. “I was just… There was some stuff going on, when you teamed up with the team a couple years back…” Jon nodded, dazed. 

Raven groaned loudly. “Christ, could you _be_ any more awkward, Wally?”

“What?” Wally asked defensively, raising his arms. Garfield slid closer to his shoulder with the motion.

“Jon,” Kori stopped in front of him, leaning over to place a delicate hand on his shoulder. Jon looked up at her. He was taller than the last time he met her, but Kori was taller than his dad, even, so she still crouched down to meet him at eye level. “We have caught up to Klarion a few times over the past week— He is not really dangerous, just…” 

“Annoying.” Jackson finished for her, in a monotone voice.

“He fancies himself an agent of chaos, but he’s just a common witch. He needs the aid of a familiar to even perform his magic.” Raven added on.

“We are sure that Robin is fine,” Kori continued, picking her words carefully. “Klarion is just… slippery. Once we have him, he will tell us where Damian is.”

Jon nodded, feeling a lot younger than he was all of a sudden. “Alright,” He squeaked.

“Just leave it to us, kid,” Garfield yawned from Wally’s arm. “We’ll get Robbie back in no time. Just enjoy the break while you can.”

“Dude,” Wally hissed, smacking Garfield's head.

 _“Ow!”_ The sloth finally dropped, and he morphed back into a human as he hit the couch, body splayed over Wally’s lap. “Animal abuse!”

“We _will_ find him. We are getting closer.” Kori assured Jon.

Jon looked into her deep green eyes. "Dick is worried about him, too.” At the mention of Damian’s big brother, Kori’s face seemed to still. She closed her eyes, and sighed, standing up straight. “Perhaps it is time to alert his family about the situation.”

“Uh—” Jackson spluttered, turning on his elbows. “I thought the plan was to find him _before_ the Batclan found out something was up?”

Kori sighed again, defeated. “I do not think we have a choice.”

The conversation started to turn a little heated after that, so Jon politely excused himself, riding the elevator to the ground floor and exiting the building through the front door.

He sat against the base of a tree and closed his eyes, exhaling slowly. In retrospect, he should’ve considered this was a possibility. It was always a possibility, in their line of work, but it somehow still felt like he’d had the rug ripped out from under him.

How selfish could he be? He felt a stab of pain, now, thinking about all those passive aggressive text messages he’d sent Damian. He quickly pulled out his phone and typed out an apology text.

_Fri. June 14_

_3:21 PM_

_Jon: Hey im home now so drop by any time_

_4:01 PM_

_Jon: we could also play mario kart when we finish if u get here early ;p_

_5:45 PM_

_Jon: dude r u coming or not??_

_5:59 PM_

_Jon: damiiiiiiiiii_

_9:01 PM_

_Jon: fine dont come, its too late now anyways_

_Tues. June 18_

_3:02 PM_

_Jon: are we at least still good for this friday?_

_Thurs. June 20_

_6:23 PM_

_Jon: answer me u emotionally repressed butt_

_Fri. June 21_

_3:20 PM_

_Jon: im home now, not that ur even gonna open this_

_3:23 PM_

_Jon: cmon dami u said youd help me!!!_

_4:42 PM_

_Jon: WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS_

_Sat. June 22_

_3:48 PM_

_I JUST LEARNED THAT U WERE KIDNAPED OR SMTN IM SORRY FOR EVERYTHING ABOVE THIS I DIDNT MEAN IT :(((_

Jon dropped his phone in the dirt after hitting send, his head falling back and bumping against the tree bark. He closed his eyes, letting the dappled sunlight dance across his eyelids. It was a lot warmer in California than it was in New York, but there was a nice breeze shaking the foliage around him, sending the waves of the San Francisco bay crashing against the rocks at the base of the island. It was relaxing.

Jon wondered where Damian was at that very moment. Could he feel the heat? Could he hear the river, or the bustle of the town?

Jon’s senses were so spread out, he jumped at the sound of something making a sudden noise right in front of him. His eyes flew open, and he had to take a few seconds to blink the sun spots out of his vision before it could focus.

Sitting in front of him was a cat. Relatively small, pure black with short hair, and piercing green eyes.

“Oh.” Jon stared in surprise. He didn’t realize there were any animals on the island other than birds. And Garfield, he guessed. And sometimes Goliath. “Hey there,” he greeted, holding out his hand, a smile pulling at his lips. “Aren’t you a cute kitty?”

The cat's ears flattened, and Jon could’ve sworn it wrinkled its nose at him. “ _Grrr…”_

Jon withdrew his hand. “It’s ok, I won’t hurt you.”

The cat stayed silent, though it continued staring at him intently. Jon shifted, uncomfortable under the scrutiny.

He heard the automatic door of the Titans Tower _whoosh_ open as someone walked out. 

Jon turned away from the cat, spotting Wally staring back at him, now dressed in his bright yellow Kid Flash uniform. “Oh, hey.” The speedster greeted, stopping abruptly. “I thought you left.”

Jon shrugged, turning to face forward again, fiddling with his hands in his lap. “Well, yeah, I guess I just—”

 _“Muurooarrr.”_ The cat meowed loud enough that Jon stopped talking, jumping slightly. 

“Oh man, is the cat back _again?_ ” Wally walked closer to Jon, and the cat flattened its ears against its skull, tail tip twitching dangerously as its eyes followed Wally’s movements. 

“Does it belong to anyone?” Jon asked.

The cat meowed again, just as loud as before, but Wally spoke over it. “Nah, it’s just a random stray that keeps showing up here.”

“How does it get here?” Jon asked, keeping a curious eye on the animal.

“Your bet is as good as mine.” Wally sighed, placing his hands on his hips. “It swims, I guess. I’ve already brought it back to the mainland twice, and I’ve got the scars to prove it.”

He leaned over, showing Jon the long scratches on his arms that hadsstarted to scab over. “And I have a _super metabolism._ I broke my leg last week, and I swear it healed faster than this thing’s claws.”

_“Murrrowwowwwww.”_

“It’s really talkative.” Jon remarked. 

“It’s an asshole is what it is.” Wally stated, straightening up. The cat hissed at him. “Whatever, Raven or Kori can fly it back to mainland this time, I’m not picking that thing up again. It reeks.”

Jon watched the cat thoughtfully as it hunkered down with its paws tucked underneath it, still staring down Wally as if daring him to try to move it.

 _Damian likes cats._ “I can take him back across the river.” Jon offered.

As he spoke, the cat’s eyes swung over to him, and it’s nape bristled. It hissed and spat at him. “Your funeral.” Wally whistled. “See ya later.”

In a burst of air, Wally disappeared. Jon half expected the cat to jump, or at least flinch, but he seemed perfectly unbothered.

Well, maybe unbothered was the wrong word. The cat looked pissed, but not from Wally. 

Jon pocketed his phone again and moved forward on his knees, reaching a hand out. “Heeerree kitty kitty…” he made the same kissing noise that he’d make to get Krypto’s attention.

The cat sat up. “ _Murroooww.”_ His mouth stretched wide as he vocalized, showing off his pointy teeth.

“Meeoww.” Jon tried to copy the noise. The cat blinked, eyes widening as if in shock. Jon smiled and inched closer. “Meow meow?”

The cat spat at him, standing up with his back arched. It was so sudden, Jon flinched back. The cat leaped away from him, circling around closer to the tower. Jon scurried up to follow him. “I’m sorry kitty!” he called. “I didn’t mean it!”

Jon spent the next twenty minutes chasing the cat around the island. He never hid from him, but always stood just out of reach, meowing loudly. At one point, he bumped into Garfield who was also leaving, and the green boy laughed at him as he stood waist deep in the middle of a bush. When the cat suddenly decided to race full speed at him, though, he squawked loudly, shifting into a seagull and flying away. The cat stared after him, tail lashing violently.

Jon really wanted to build trust with the cat, but he also didn’t want to spend the entire day chasing him around the island, so when he got in as close as the cat would let him, he resorted to using superspeed to grab him.

The cat immediately started thrashing, yowling wildly. “Shhh shh shh, it’s ok! It’s ok! I’m not trying to hurt you!” Jon frantically comforted, pulling him into his chest. The cat clawed at his arms and chest viciously, though he couldn’t actually break his skin. “It’s ok, it’s ok, I got you…” He repeated the mantra, carefully flying up past the foliage and floating to the nearest shore as carefully as he could. The cat either didn’t notice or didn’t care that they were suddenly flying fifteen feet above the river, still flailing about violently in Jon’s arms.

They touched down on the waterfront a few moments later, and Jon finally let the cat go, stumbling to bend down so he didn’t just drop him. He fully expected to see the cat just dart into the park, maybe scampering up a tree or something. Instead, as soon as his paws hit the ground, the cat turned a full 180 degrees, and latched itself onto his sneaker.

“ _Uhm.”_ Jon looked down, then looked around himself, completely at a loss. There weren't many people in the park, despite it being a Saturday afternoon. And those that lived so close to the Titans Tower must’ve been used to seeing heros, because no one batted an eye at him having flown in.

“Are you ok, kitty?”

“ _Moww,”_ The cat vocalized, the noise slightly muffled in the cuffs of Jon’s jeans. Deciding to take advantage of the sudden change in behavior, he bent down carefully and started brushing the back of his fingers along the cat’s head.

He growled, but it was notably softer than the five hundred previous times he’d growled at Jon in the last twenty minutes. Jon moved to brush his fingers down his spine, slowly moving up to pet him with his full palm. The cat’s muscles kept twitching and flinching from the contact, but he stayed latched onto Jon’s foot.

“That’s right, I’m ok… You’re a good kitty…” Jon cooed, a smile parting his lips. He felt touched and excited that he had seemingly finally worn the cat down enough to let him pet him. “What’s a matter? Do you not have a home?” 

_“Maaow.”_

Jon tightened his lips, feeling how the cat’s spine jutted from his back, and his fur was coarse and matted. Life on the streets was obviously treating this one poorly. “Did you really swim all the way to the Titans Tower? Three times?”

 _“Moww-ooww.”_ He moved to crawl further up Jon’s leg, claws popping the threads on his jeans as they pulled out and sunk back in. Jon carefully sat down, letting the cat stay crouched on his calf. He let Jon keep petting him, though his tail was lashing rhythmically. “Why would you do something like that?” 

The cat replied in a short chattering noise, his whiskers twitching. Jon smiled warmly, enthralled by how well of a conversationalist this cat was. _Damian would’ve loved this._ He’d have to tell his friend about it when he got back.

Jon’s brow furrowed suddenly, chewing the inside of his cheek. What would he tell Damian? That he left this starved, dirty cat right in the same spot he’d been desperate enough to dive into the San Francisco bay to escape from? _Maybe he’s been getting chased from here,_ Jon pondered.

“Are you hungry?” He asked. The cat’s whiskers twitched, green eyes narrowing at him. Jon smiled. “You seem like you’re hungry, aren’t ya? We should get you something to eat. Come on now,”

Jon peeled the cat off his jeans, holding him close to his chest. He squirmed, but it was nowhere near the violet thrashing from the first time he’d held the cat. He scratched him behind an ear, and it flicked irritably. “Now, where’s the nearest pet store?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> updates are gonna be much more sparse from here, I'll try for once a week but I've literally never kept a schedule before. but hey u know what makes me excited to write?? comments. Please validate me bc this story is so dumb but I think its fun? Is it fun? let me know if ur having fun


	4. "Can we Keep him?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jon feeds the cat and brings him home :)

The cat, unsurprisingly, hadn’t been very cooperative when Jon shoved him up his shirt to walk into the pet store, but he didn’t honestly know what else to do with it. He grabbed the first tabbed can that he saw and paid for it quickly. The teenager working the register had obvious questions regarding Superboy buying canned cat food in San Francisco with a poorly concealed writhing mass of angry feline tucked under his jacket, but miraculously, they didn’t voice any of them, and Jon was grateful for that.

Jon stumbled out of the store and immediately flew upwards off of the sidewalk, earning a few shouts of surprise from the pedestrians passing by that he promptly ignored. He landed on the flat roof of the city pet store, fumbling to unzip his jacket. The cat exploded out of it, immediately turning to spit at Jon.

Jon stared dismayed at the ruined T-shirt underneath his jacket. It looked like he’d gotten into a fight with ninjas, from how torn up it was. “Owww…” Jon winced, slowly sitting down crossed legged. Even if his skin was impervious to speeding bullets and cat claws alike, he still felt the pain. 

The cat was pacing farther along the roof, but Jon was fairly comfortable that he wouldn’t jump down. Probably. Hopefully.

“Hey, kitty!” Jon popped open the can, making a kissing noise to draw his attention as the cat peered over the edge of the roof into one of the alleyways below. “You want some food? You hungry?”

The cat regarded him with unhidden contempt. Jon genuinely hadn’t had much experience with cats, but he was sure that this one looked angrier than most. _“Mrrrrr…”_

“C’mon, kitty.” Jon begged. He placed the can on the ground, pushing it as far away from him as he could reach. “Don’t you want to eat? I bought it just for you…” 

The cat’s eyes moved from Jon’s face to the can of food. He stalked forward, almost cautious in his movements, eyes darting from Jon to the can. Jon grinned encouragingly, hands gripping his ankles, knees flapping excitedly. “I won’t take it back! It’s all yours, don’t worry.”

When he reached the can, the cat sniffed the contents meticulously. It took almost a full minute of deliberation before he finally started to eat it, a small muffled growl building in his throat as he chewed through the contents.

Jon shifted, resting his cheek on his palm as he watched the cat eat. Despite his earlier compliments, the cat wasn’t actually that cute in its current state— it was filthy, and he could smell the grime that had rubbed off on his shirt. Seeing him eat something was encouraging, but Jon still didn’t feel ready to leave him behind.

Jon peaked at his phone to check the time. _4:30,_ which meant it was 1:30 back home. He still needed to finish his final essay that was due on Monday, as well as study for his other classes. His attention drifted back to the cat, who was already licking the inside of the can clean. 

Jon pouted. He didn’t want to just _leave_ the cat where he found it, when it was obviously doing so terribly here. “Did you like it?”

The cat froze at the sound of Jon’s voice, quickly picking up his head to stare at him. Jon smiled. The cat licked its lips, whiskers twitching.

Jon splayed out his legs, leaning back on his hands. “I’m thinking of taking you somewhere else,” Jon shared, if for no other reason than to process his own thoughts. “So you stop trying to swim to the Titans Tower.”

_“Mrrruurrr.”_

“There’s some state parks across the Golden Gate Bridge…” he thought aloud, letting his gaze drift over the city. He didn’t really know the geography of this area that well. “Or I could fly you to a different city? I guess you’re used to living around people. I could try to find the local humane society…” Jon frowned. He thought he recalled a distant memory of Damian on a tirade about the low adoption rates of black cats in shelters.

“ _Mrrow.”_ Jon looked back down, finding the cat sitting between his legs, intenze gaze focused entirely on him. As weirdly scary and intense as he was, he had really pretty eyes.

Jon slowly held out his hand. The cat’s ears flattened, but it didn’t flinch away. He held his hand just in front of the cat’s face, almost holding his breath as the animal sniffed his fingers.

 _“Murrow.”_ He pushed his head into Jon’s palm, flicking his nose up so Jon’s hand was resting on his head.

Jon grinned, elated. “Awww,” He cooed, stroking the cat’s neck. His ears were still poised back, but he wasn’t biting or clawing at Jon, which was more progress than he’d made all day. “I bet you’re a real softie under all of that sourness, aren’t cha?”

His top lip twitched with his whiskers, fangs peaking out, but the cat let Jon continue petting him. He brushed out bits of dirt and gravel caught in his fur, but his fingers couldn’t do anything about the mats. Jon’s lips stuck out in a pout.

“These can’t be comfortable,” Jon commented, fiddling gently with one of the larger knots.

“ _Murrrr.”_

“I wish I could do more for you,” he lamented, stroking along his back longingly. “Make sure you had a warm place to sleep tonight…” 

The cat stared directly into Jon’s eyes. He stared back, chest welling with emotion. _What would Damian do?_

And the answer to _that_ was obvious.

It took him an hour to fly back across the states, flying much slower than he had on the way in with his precious cargo re-tucked under his jacket as he hugged it securely. He didn’t thrash nearly as much the second time around— Jon figured that meant that they had already bonded, and he hoped that boded well for the eventual introduction to his parents. But by the time he was back in New York, slowing down as he passed into Metropolis, his apartment building already within eyesight, he still didn’t know how they'd react. 

Floating down to his balcony, he quickly peeked into the apartment with his telescopic vision to see that only his mom was home.

The cat shifted under his jacket, likely in response to feeling them slow down. _“Shhhh shh,”_ Jon hushed, holding the bulge tighter. “Don’t make any noise, ok?” Miracuously, the cat stilled. Jon hoped he was sleeping. He opened the balcony door as quietly as he could, tip toeing in. He could hear his mom in his parent’s room— he just had to make it to his room across from theirs, and tuck the cat away. Of course he wasn’t planning on hiding him _forever,_ but he figured he’d have a better chance if he took the time to clean the cat up a little first. Show his parents the cuteness that he _knew_ was inside of the half-starved animal.

He slid the glass door shut and strode quietly across the kitchen and living room area, leveling his breathing like he’d been trained to do when hiding from a super-villain. The cat remained still under his jacket, but Jon could hear its small heart beating against his own.

Just as he entered the hallway, he heard his mom stand up from her desk and begin walking to the door. 

In a panic, Jon disregarded the ‘no flying’ rule of the house and glided the rest of the way down the hall, careful about jerking the cat too harshly. He landed in his doorway just as Lois reached hers, and quickly swung the door shut, holding the cat with one arm and stopping his door from audibly closing with the other.

His mom opened the door, but didn’t move. Jon held his breath.

“... Jon?”

He breathed out, shoulders slumping as he let his feet drop to the floor. He realized too late that, of course, his mom would notice his open door suddenly having closed. “... Yeah?”

“I didn’t hear you come home, sweetie.” Lois moved forward, pushing open Jon’s door.

Jon stood frozen as he came face to face with his mom. Lois took one look at the very obvious shape Jon was holding against his chest and narrowed her eyes. 

Jon tried smiling. “... Hi?”

Lois placed her hands on her hips, cocking an eyebrow wordlessly.

“... I can explain—” The cat decided that moment would be the perfect time to start moving about again, forcing his head through the collar of Jon’s jacket underneath his chin.

“ _Mrroowwww.”_

Lois’ lips thinned. “No.”

“Mom, wait, listen—”

“Jonathan, you were just supposed to find Damian to help keep you focused on studying.”

“ _Wrrraooooo!”_ The cat suddenly started thrashing about in his arms again, forcing the zipper on Jon’s jacket to slide down, giving him enough room to escape. He landed between Jon and Lois, tail whipping back and forth.

“Kitty, it’s ok!” Jon crouched down as his mother took a step back.

“Oh, it’s filthy!” Lois exclaimed. “And it reeks!”

“He just needs to be cleaned up,” Jon explained, holding out his hands to the cat who was looking as dispealed as ever. 

“ _Wrrrooooaaww!”_

“It’s ok kitty,” Jon soothed, making more kissing noises to calm him down. His slit pupils darted quickly between Lois and Jon.

“Jon, you _can’t_ pick up every stray that you find.”

“I don’t!” Jon exclaimed, scooping the cat back up into his arms and hugging him close. “Just this one.”

Lois’ eyes widened as her son straightened up, his Superboy jacket over halfway unzipped. “Did it do _that_ to your shirt?”

Jon glanced down at his torn shirt and the cat wriggling in his arms to be let back down. “He was just scared! I bought him some food because he was starving and he warmed up to me and I couldn’t just leave him in San Francisco!”

Lois leaned against the doorframe, screwing up her eyes as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “You brought him all the way from _San Francisco?”_

“Mom, _please_ can I keep him?” Jon begged. The cat in question seemed to have given up on wriggling out of Jon’s iron grip, going full ragdoll. He held him out, hands cupped under the cat's armpits. His tail curled up around his hind legs as he dangled.

_“Mmrrrrr…”_

Lois had one arm crossed along her torso, the other suspended in the air by her head. “Jon, honey, you can’t just pull a cat from the streets into our apartment. He needs shots, litter boxes— and a _bath._ ”

The cat hissed at her. Lois blinked in surprise, her suspended hand dropping. “He needs _love._ ” Jon insisted, pulling him back to his chest. The cat hissed again, but Jon ignored it. “I’ll give him all those things! I can change the litter boxes every day, and I’ll brush him out, and I’ll take him to get his shots, and I’ll buy him toys—”

“Slow down, slow down.” Lois interrupted, holding out both her hands. “That’s all easy to say now, but you’ve never even owned a cat before.”

“So that means I can never have one?” Jon shot back, pulling the cat closer to his face. He swatted at Jon’s cheek just under his eye, making him flinch, and he gingerly removed the cat’s paw.

“He’s not even friendly,” Lois sighed, exasperated. “Why do you even want him?”

“Because he’ll just starve on the streets if I don’t take him!” Jon pushed. “And black cats already get adopted less than any other cat out of shelters, so he’ll also just die if we turn him into a shelter!”

His mom blinked, confusion mixing into her exasperation. “Where did you hear that?”

“Damian told me.” Jon stated matter of factly.

 _“Wrrroooaaaw!”_

“Why doesn’t Damian take the cat?” Lois suggested. “He certainly has the space _and_ the funds for it, and he likes animals anyways.”

_“Mmmrrrooaaaww!”_

Jon petted the cat hurriedly, loosening his grip as he howled repeatedly. “Dami… Damian went missing in the field last week.” Jon lowered his voice, worried their shouting was what was upsetting the cat.

Lois’ stern face melted, even as the cat howled again, stretching out each syllable as much as his little lungs would allow. “Oh, honey.” She reached out to squeeze Jon’s arm as he held the cat closer, not letting him escape his hold. “Honey, Damian’s a tough cookie, tougher than his dad, even. I’m sure he’s ok.”

_“Grroowwawww!”_

Jon finally loosened his grip, worrying about hurting the cat. He landed on all four paws, only to spin back around and face Jon, glaring daggers. Jon wiped his nose on his sleeve, momentarily looking away from the cat. “I know he is. I’m not worried about him.” He was never any good at lying, especially to his mom, but he didn’t want to think about Damian right then. “And I can’t help him, anyways. But I _can_ help him.” Jon motioned back down to the cat, whose tail was lashing sharply, hackles bristling. He spat at Jon.

“Honey, I don’t think he wants your help,” Lois warned, staring at the cat from the corners of her eyes, keeping her body angled away from him. 

“But he _needs_ it.” Jon insisted, hands balling into fists.

Lois sighed, but it was different than her previous sighs. Jon could feel he was getting close. “Jonathan, this is not a healthy coping mechanism. Besides, you’re supposed to be _studying_ this weekend _._ You have finals next week!”

“I’ll still study!” Jon swore. “I’ll study _extra_ hard, I’ll get A’s and B’s on all my tests! Mom,” Jon grabbed Lois’ hand still resting on his bicep, clutching it in both of his hands and staring imploringly into her eyes. She wasn’t much taller than him anymore. “Mom, I _swear_ , I’ve thought this through, and I’m serious about this.”

Lois’ eyebrows were creased, her mouth parted. “Honey, yo— but— We’re only allowed one pet in the apartment lease.”

Jon dropped her hand, swinging his arms wide. “Krypto is barely here anyways!” He didn’t actually know _what_ Krypto did with most of his time. When he was younger, he liked to imagine he was out stopping exoctic animal trafficking rings, or exposing dog fighters. 

Lois folded her face into both her hands. Jon glanced down, seeing the cat had sat himself down between them, his thin tail curled around his paws, only the tip twitching back and forth. He returned Jon’s gaze with contempt. 

“... I _would_ tell you to wait for your father to come home, but God knows he’s just as much a sucker for a charity case as you are.” Jon’s face lit up, and Lois held out one hand, the pointer finger extended upwards. “He can stay for _tonight._ No more going out this weekend, though— You’re going to stay home and _study._ ”

Jon nodded quickly. “Yes, of course!”

“I mean it.” Lois reiterated. “Superboy is grounded until _Jon_ is finished with finals. Tomorrow I’ll bring the cat to a vet to check for a chip, and we’ll figure out what to do from there. Ok?”

Jon never stopped nodding. “Yes! Thank you mom!” He lunged forward, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. 

“I _never_ said we were keeping him!” She protested, though her arms wrapped up to rest behind his shoulders. She sighed one last time, a small chuckle escaping her. “Ok, now…” 

Jon pulled back and crouched down. “Hear that, kitty?” he crooned, stretching his arm out to wriggle his fingers enticingly in front of the cat’s face. “You get to sleep under a roof tonight!” _And hopefully forever,_ he added silently.

The cat _huffed_ at him, picking himself up and striding away further into Jon’s room. Jon stood back up, still smiling just as wide.

Lois exhaled. “Ok. Why don’t you get started on that studying now, alright? I’ll get him cleaned.”

Jon fidgeted. “Can’t I do it? I’ve already built up trust with him—”

Lois silenced him with a look. “We _agreed_ that he would stay the night as long as you spent the rest of the weekend doing school work. _Starting now._ ”

Jon chewed the inside of his lip, looking to see the cat having jumped onto his bed, walking unsteadily on the plush surface. “ ...Yeah, but, he’s also kinda— mean.”

He looked back at Jon and Lois standing at the head of the room, and pulled his ears back, baring his teeth in a hiss.

Lois shook her head. “It’s uncanny, how he reacts to everything you say like that.”

“I just think it’d be better for someone with impenetrable skin to clean him up.” Jon urged. The cat slitted his eyes, crouching low on the bedspread, a rumbling growl rising from him.

Lois pursed her lips. “... Fine. Maybe you’re right. But!” she resumed pointing at him, finger wavering dangerously. “Afterwards, you’re to study for the _rest of the day._ And all day tomorrow, when I’ll be taking him to be checked for a chip.”

Jon nodded quickly, and surged forward for another hug. “ThankyousomuchIloveyou!!”

Lois chuckled weakly, returning the hug again. “You say that now, but when that cat kills me in my sleep, you’ll have it on your conscience for the rest of your life.”

_“Mrrrrr…”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, current system is to upload a chapter as I finish the next one. Writing Jon's relationship with his parents is fun


	5. “You need a name.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cat gets a name, and is introduced to Clark :)

The cat, decidedly, did NOT enjoy getting cleaned, but Jon somehow managed to get them both out alive. Lois checked in more than once during the process— first to bring him Krypo’s grooming supplies, and each following time out of genuine concern from the awful noises the cat was making. Jon talked to him the entire time, trying to sooth him, but to no avail. He was glad he convinced his mom to let him clean the cat up— it would’ve been a bloodbath, otherwise. Despite having no visible scratches, he could still feel his arms stinging hours later as he sat at the desk in his room, spending half his time reading his textbook and the other half staring at the lump of towels laid out on his bed that the cat had been hiding under ever since Jon set him down there.

He had to have a name, obviously. Jon couldn’t keep calling him kitty forever. He thought about giving him a Kryptonian name, or some kind of reference to their heritage like Krypto was named after, but he couldn’t think of any good ones.

It was hours later when the cat finally crawled out of his self-appointed towel prison. Jon’s attention flew away from his notes at the first sign of movement, smile widening at the cat’s ruffled appearance. 

The cat looked back at Jon and wrinkled his nose. “ _Rrrr..”_

“Are you feeling better?” Jon asked, setting down his pen and leaning over to rest his chin on his palms, elbows together on his desk as he watched the cat bend over himself to jerkily groom his back, settling parts of his fur that had dried weird.

Even with the cat equivalence of bed-head, he already looked much better. If it wasn’t already clear before, seeing him wet in the bathtub had _definitely_ confirmed that he was underweight. His jutting ribs paired with his small stature made for quite the depressing sight.

Now though, he finally seemed to be perking up again. Lois had left some temporary supplies in the corner of Jon’s room when he got back— A bowl of fresh water, a small amount of Krypto’s wet food (Jon had quickly researched if dog food was safe for cat consumption, though his mom assured him it would be fine temporarily) and a makeshift litter box made from a low cut cardboard box and shredded papers. 

The cat ignored all of it. After finishing grooming (or giving up, since Jon thought he still looked fairly ruffled), he padded along Jon’s bed and climbed over to his desk, taking a seat next to his textbook, staring at him as if he expected an apology for Jon saving him from starvation and filth.

“... Sorry for the bath.” Jon caved under the stare, reaching out one hand to pet him with. The cat batted it away, drawing his lips back. Jon let it drop. “You need a name.” He informed him.

The feline’s eyes narrowed, tail twitching. “I was thinking like, Blacky?” He continued, watching the cat for reactions. What his mom had said earlier stuck with him— he hadn’t thought much on it before, since his only pet owning experience was with Krypto, who had super-intelligence, but the cat did seem to have a habit of expressing himself in response to whatever Jon said. He liked it a lot— it made the cat special.

In response to Blacky, he did absolutely nothing. 

Jon drummed his fingers on his desk, tilting his head so his cheek was in his palm. “Maybe Salem? Like from Sabrina?”

_“Mrrr...”_

“Not a fan of the teenage witch?”

For some reason, _that_ elicited a stronger response. The cat’s claws unsheathed, and his nape started to bristle. “ _Mmmrrrr-owww…”_

“Alright, alright, it’s ok…” Jon comforted him, leaning back in his chair, weary of a sudden attack. “I’ll just avoid fandom names altogether, then.” 

He watched the cat as his pelt started to deflate again, struggling to put a name to his face. He wanted to keep it in theme with him being a black cat. He imagined how he’d look next to Krypto, whenever the super dog got back from wherever he was. A tiny black cat next to his pure white dog, like a miniature shadow. 

“... Shadow?” Jon tried.

The cat’s eyes had shifted away from Jon’s face, staring off into the darkening corner of his room. It took a few moments for him to react, ears suddenly perking up and whisker’s twitching, slitted eyes darting back to Jon’s face.

Jon smiled. “Shadow?” He repeated.

The cat chitterred quietly, mouth twitching with the noise.

Jon exhaled through his nose, smiling and crossing his arms loosely over his stomach as he leaned farther back in his chair. “Alright. I like it. You know, Damian named _his_ cat after his grandpa-butler.”

The newly-dubbed Shadow stood up, tail raising into the air. “ _Mrrrooaaoowww!”_

Jon reached forward, and Shadow didn’t flinch away this time as he brushed his hand along his side. It was incredibly soft after his bath. “Maybe after they find him, I can take you over to meet cat Alfred, and you can have a playdate.”

“ _Mmeeewwrrr!”_

Jon gently scratched Shadow as he continued, smiling fondly. “Damian also named his cow Bat Cow _._ ”

 _“Mmrrraaaaarrrw!!”_ Shadow mowed louder, more insistently.

“Yeah, he’s not that great at names.”

Shadow’s pelt started to bristle again, his tail arching over his back. _“Grroowww...”_

Jon grinned. “Glad you agree.”

Shadow jumped off of his desk as Jon heard the front door open, signaling his dad’s return. Jon spun his chair and leaped out, buzzing with excitement about showing Shadow to his dad. If he could get him on board with keeping the cat, then his mom would be outnumbered— she herself said that Clark would be easily swayed to Jon’s side.

Shadow had moved to crouch over the small plate of wet dog food, sniffing at it in distaste. “Hey, you wanna meet my dad?” He asked the cat, crouching next to him. Shadow sneezed, pulling his head back and shaking his body.

Jon unconsciously tuned in to his parents speaking in the living room as his mom said his name. “So, Jon brought something home from his visit to San Francisco today…”

“Was it Damian?” Clark asked, confused.

Jon scooped up Shadow into his arms quickly, wanting to be the one to tell his dad about the cat. Shadow writhed in his hold, Jon fumbling to open his bedroom door without dropping him.

“Dad!” He called down the hall, interrupting his parent’s conversation. “I want you to meet someone!”

Jon stumbled down the hall, socks slipping on the hardwood floor as Shadow tried to escape. " _Be good!”_ Jon whispered to the cat.

He burst from the hall, holding the cat out at an arm’s length to display him to his dad. Clark was standing by his mom working at the kitchen table, his hand resting on her shoulder. He hadn’t even taken off his bag or glasses yet.

Clark’s eyes widened. “A cat?”

Jon grinned widely. “His name is— _ow!_ ” Shadow had managed to twist his head enough to bite one of Jon’s fingers, making him drop the cat. He rubbed his finger as Shadow glared up at him, tail lashing. “—his name is Shadow!”

Clark’s expression shifted from surprised to concerned, while Lois sighed exasperatedly. “ _Jon,_ why did you name it?”

“Because he didn’t have one before!” Jon beamed, unperturbed. 

Clark hung his shoulder bag over a chair at the kitchen table, inching his way closer to the cat. “You got him in San Francisco?”

“I found him on the Titan’s Tower’s island!” He supplied. 

Clark crouched down, and Shadow turned his glare onto him. He reached forward tentatively, pulling back quickly when Shadow bared his teeth. It was almost comical, seeing how Shadow was hardly bigger than his dad’s bicep. “Why didn’t you turn him into a shelter?”

Shadow sat between Clark and Jon, ears flattened and tail tip twitching repetitively. “Black cats don’t do well in shelters,” Jon stated matter of factly. “They get adopted half as often as tabbies or white cats.” 

Clark’s eyes widened in sympathy, and Jon knew he had him in the bag. “Really?”

“Read that statistic in your textbook, did you?” Lois asked dryly. Jon shifted from foot to foot, avoiding eye contact. “I wanted to make sure it was true,” he defended. There was actually a lot of conflicting data on the subject, but his parents didn’t need to know that. “And since he was a street cat, he doesn’t get along great with people, so he’d probably just be put down anyways.”

Clark tried reaching out again, and Shadow flattened his ears, growl building in his throat. His hand pulled back again as his gaze melted. 

“You don’t know that he’s always been a street cat.” Lois reminded him. “I’m going to bring him in to scan for a chip tomorrow. He might just be an escapee.”

Clark slipped off his glasses and rubbed his chin, studying the cat. “Well, I can tell you right now that I don’t see a chip in him.”

Jon’s expression brightened, and he turned his wide eyes to his mom. Lois’ hands rose from her keyboard, palms up. “Clark, whose side are you on here?” 

His dad rose up, rubbing the back of his neck. “Sorry, I just—” 

“Oh, _relax_ , I’m only teasing.” Lois chuckled, resting her chin on her fist. “Jon’s supposed to be studying for his finals, you know.”

“I wanted to welcome dad home!” Jon defended. He reached down and picked up Shadow again.

“ _Mrroaaw!”_

“Here, you can pet him! I gave him a bath.” Jon beamed.

Clark hesitantly reached forward, gently rubbing his knuckles between Shadow’s ears. The cat growled, but seemed otherwise resigned.

His dad smiled warmly. “Alright,” he said, pulling his hand back. “You better get back to work. I’ll come get you when dinner’s ready.” 

Jon carried Shadow back to his room, but decided to leave the door cracked in case he wanted to explore the apartment. Shadow ignored the gesture, eating his food and curling up in the center of Jon’s bed as he continued his school work— actually finding himself giving it his full attention for the first time that day. When he found himself stumped, Jon would read the work aloud for Shadow, talking through his process. The cat largely ignored him, at most flicking his ear or opening one eye to glare. Somehow, Jon found that it still helped.

His dad came back in to grab him almost an hour later, the clock nearing nine. When he entered his room, Jon leaned back in his seat, stretching his arms above his head and yawning loudly.

“Working hard?”

“Jet lagged,” Jon lamented, pushing aside his work. “I think I’m gonna go to bed after dinner.”

“Whatever you need.” Jon stepped up to walk into the kitchen, but Clark held him in place. “I talked with your mom a bit more about Shadow,” he began, his voice hushed.

Jon’s face brightened. “Yeah? And?”

Clark’s eyes danced, a smile tugging at his lips. “I’m not working at the Planet tomorrow, so I’ll have time to go out and buy some supplies for him, like food and litter boxes.”

Jon’s gin widened even further, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Does that mean—”  
“I’m not supposed to let you know until after you’re finished with school,” Clark continued in a low voice, no longer trying to hide his smile. “But yes, we can keep him.”

Jon surged forward, enveloping his dad in a wide hug. His dad quickly embraced him back. Even if Jon’s hands couldn’t quite reach each other on his back, he loved his dad’s hugs because he didn’t have to hold back, squeezing him tightly as he chuckled deeply. “Thankyouthankyouthankyou!!”

“Don’t let your mom know I told you,” Clark reminded him, pulling back with a wink. “Think of it as an early birthday present.” Jon’s smile threatened to split his face in half. His birthday was still a month away.

Jon turned around to Shadow sleeping on his bed, his back turned to him and his dad. “Hear that Shadow? You’re going to live here!”

 _“Mrrr.”_ His tail twitched, raising up and falling back on the bed without much enthusiasm.

True to his word, Jon turned in early that night, showering after dinner and crawling into his bed with the only traces of light bleeding in from his curtains. Despite his best efforts not to disturb the cat, Shadow jerked awake as Jon shifted the sheets, immediately jumping off of the bed.

“Nooo, it’s ok! Here Shadow, kitty kitty…” Jon called gently to the animal, leaning out of bed to tap enticingly against his bed frame. “Don’t you wanna cuddle?”

 _“Mmurrrr…”_ Shadow growled at him, his reflective green eyes glowing as his face caught in a stray beam of light, glaring at Jon.

“I promise I won’t crush you,” He tried.

Shadow ignored him, stopping to knead into a discarded jacket on Jon’s floor, eventually settling down into it to sleep.

Jon tried not to feel too heartbroken— It was Shadow’s first night with him, of course he’d take a lot longer to warm up. Still, Jon wished he had the small warm body curled against his as he plugged in his phone, closing his all apps in his nighttime ritual.

Immediately after closing out of his multiple pages of cat related google questions, his phone pulled up his earlier conversation with Damian. Jon felt his stomach sink into his bed at the reminder that he had no idea where his best friend currently was, or if he was even ok.

Jon finished closing all his apps, setting his phone on his bedside table and pulling his blankets around his shoulders. Damian had already been missing for a _week_ . Anything could’ve happened in that time. He knew that his friend had disappeared for shorter amounts of time against larger threats, or for longer amounts of time just because he was wrapped up working a case— and heck, he’d even _died_ already, before Jon had even met him, and he still managed to come out ok. None of those thoughts made him feel better.

The more he thought about it, the more his stomach turned. He told himself that the Teen Titans were looking for him, and that they were going to tell Batman so that his family would start looking for him too. No one could hide from _Batman._ They’d find him soon. Definitely. 

Jon sniffed, rubbing his face. He heard Shadow shift over his jacket, picking up his head. Jon breathed in deeply, exhaling slowly. He peaked open his eyes to see Shadow staring at him. After realizing he’d been caught, the cat quickly turned away again, setting his head back down. Jon smiled, though his chest still felt heavy. Damian would like Shadow — they were both very similar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're just about at the halfway point of the story, here. There's gonna be some time skipping over the next few chapters


	6. “And this one is the rabies shot."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jon takes Shadow to the vet :)

Jon entered his home with a loud “ _Whoop!_ ” _,_ slinging his backpack onto the couch, bouncing with every step.

“It’s summer time!” He cheered, racing down the hallway. “Mom? Dad?” He peered into his parent’s room, the door slightly ajar. The lights were out, and the room empty. “Anyone home?” He called, extending his hearing. He could only hear one heartbeat other than his own in their two bedroom flat, and that belonged to his feline friend. 

Jon moved to enter his room where he heard Shadow’s heart beat. He paused in the hallway, though, and moved back into the living room to pick his backpack off of the couch, setting it inside of his room by his desk to be cleaned out later. 

He turned to his bed to find Shadow lounging on his pillow, head raised and watching Jon move about with his signature unimpressed stare. “Hey buddy!” Jon greeted, grinning from ear to ear. He reached forward to pet Shadow across the head, but the car wrinkled his nose at him, flinching away and batting at his hand. “C’moonnn...” Jon pleaded with the cat, collapsing on his bed. Shadow’s position on his pillow was jostled with the movement, and his tail started to twitch. “Why won’t you let me love you?”

Shadow had been in their house for four days now. Jon’s highschool had their class schedules on an A-day B-day rotation, so Tuesday— today— was his very last day of his freshman year. 

_“Rrrow.”_ Jon smiled despite the cat’s continuous sour attitude. He reached forward with one finger, gently touching his paw. Shadow narrowed his eyes, tail lashing. “ _Rrrr…_ ”

Jon snickered as Shadow quickly drew his paw back, folding it under his body. He was still decently small, but Jon imagined that he was starting to fill out now that he was having regular meals. “I’m off of school now, Shadow. You know what that means?”

_“Maao-rrow.”_

“It means I’ll have more time to spend with you!” Jon finished exuberantly, propping his elbows on his bed, his chin tucked between his palms. 

Shadow stared back at him, deadpan. _“Rroaw.”_

Jon thought he could never get tired of talking to Shadow. While his vocalizations got a little annoying, at times, where he’d start screaming at seemingly random— like the other night, when Clark had come into Jon’s room to tell him that he’d just learned about Bruce taking over the case for finding Damian— the way that he could hold a conversation was enthralling. Jon reached forward to scratch him behind the ears. Shadow shook his head, but didn’t otherwise claw at him, so Jon took it as a win.

“After your appointment today, mom said we can go shopping for toys. Does that sound like fun?” After Jon had left that morning, while he was on the bus, Lois had sent him a heartwarming text message about how proud she was of him, and telling him officially that Shadow would be staying with them. She had a vet appointment lined up that afternoon for his vaccinations— it was scheduled fairly soon, so Jon was surprised that she wasn’t home.

 _“Maaowrr-ow?”_ Shadow’s whiskers twitched, the end of his meow perking upwards as if he was asking a question. 

Jon rolled over, laying on his back and looking upwards at Shadow on his pillow. “What kind of toys would you like? Laser pointer? Catnip?”

Shadow growled at the same time that Jon’s phone went off, vibrating in his pocket repeatedly, indicating a phone call. 

“Relax, boy, it’s just my phone.” Shadow huffed, turning away from Jon as he sat upright, legs dangling off his bed as he checked the caller ID before sliding it open to answer. “Hey mom,” He greeted.

“Jon!” Lois greeted back. “I’m so sorry for calling, I hope you’re out of school—”

“I am, don’t worry.” Jon assured her. “Where are you?”

“That’s the thing,” his mom sighed, and he heard some rustling on the other end as she moved the phone. “The daily planet called me in because there’s an ongoing story over at LexCorp right now, something involving zombies? I don’t know, there aren’t a lot of details yet.”

“Oh wow,” Jon breathed. “Is dad also there?”

“No, but Superman was spotted flying in just a few minutes ago.”

Jon chuckled, slipping off his sneakers and pulling his legs onto his bed, sitting criss-crossed on top of his mattress. “Alright. What about Shadow’s appointment, though?” 

“It looks like you’ll have to take him to the vet’s yourself,” Lois apologized over some people talking in the background. “I’m so sorry honey, I’m literally calling from inside a news vehicle as we’re driving to LexCorp, and I can’t see this taking any shorter than a few hours.”

“That’s ok,” Jon shifted, glancing at Shadow. The cat was watching him on the phone with interest. “Do you think Superman will need backup?”

“No, honey, I think Superman will be able to handle it.” There was more muffled talking on her end of the call, and he heard her lower the phone to say something back. “Ok, honey, we’re almost there so I have to go— I’ll text you the location of the vet, ok?”

“Alright mom. Stay safe.”

“Of course— and last thing?”

“Yeah?”

“Congrats on finishing your freshman year, sweetie. I’m so proud of you.”

A smile blossomed across Jon’s face, his chest warming. “Thanks mom. I love you.”

“Love you too, honey. Good bye.”

“Bye.” Jon pulled the phone away and hung up. He tossed it aside, threading his hands together and stretching his arms above his head. “Alright!” He said aloud, hopping off of his bed. “We have just under an hour of summer freedom until your appointment, Shadow.”

 _“Mrrrr.”_ the cat harrumphed. 

“I know how I’m gonna spend it,” Jon continued, plopping down at his desk. Grinning, he pulled his laptop closer, propping the screen open. He hadn’t used his laptop for days, aside from finishing his essay on Sunday (with his dad’s help, like he had promised). He had an entire weekend’s worth of videos to catch up on.

He hadn’t gotten any farther than opening Chrome when Shadow was suddenly on his desk next to the computer. “Oh!” Jon jumped a little in surprise. The cat had seemed so stubbornly glued to his pillow, he wasn’t expecting him to move at all until they had to leave. “Hey boy. Wanna watch stuff with me?”

Shadow ignored him, stepping forward and staring at the computer screen intently. He pawed at the keyboard. “Hey!” Jon exclaimed. “No, Shadow, down.” He scooped the cat up under his armpits, and he was immediately spitting, claws extended as he thrashed about in Jon’s hold. “Hey! Stop it!” Jon set him down, and the moment he was free, he spun back around and leapt onto the desk, pawing at the keyboard again.

“Shadow! No!” Jon moved to pick him up again, and the cat turned, arching his back and standing protectively over the laptop, snarling and spitting at Jon. “What’s the matter with you?” Jon asked, genuinely bewildered. He’d seen memes about cats sitting on laptop keyboards, sure, but this seemed a little too _agressive_ , even for Shadow. “Calm down! You can’t have my laptop!” Jon scolded. The cat spat at him again.

They had a stare off for a few moments before Shadow slowly turned back to the screen, pawing at the keys again. Jon took the opportunity and lunged forward, grabbing the cat again. The second extraction went much the same as the first, though Shadow tried hooking his claws under the keys to stay attached. Jon dropped the cat and hurriedly picked up his laptop as he predictably jumped back onto the desk.

“ _Wrroaww!”_ Shadow cried, leaning back on his hind paws and stretching his forepaws forward, toes splayed as he tried to reach for the laptop. 

“What is _with_ you?” Jon asked, exasperated. 

_“Aaaoow!”_

Jon held his laptop above his head, moving to his bed where he’d have a better position of defense. He settled down with the computer on his stomach, shoulders propped up against the wall. He had only re-opened the screen and deleted whatever gibberish Shadow had smashed into the search bar before the cat was back on his case, peaking around his legs, whiskers twitching inquisitively. 

Jon leveled a stare at him. “You can watch Youtube with me, but you _can’t_ touch the keyboard. Promise?” 

Shadow squeezed around him and immediately set both paws on the keyboard, entering in a repeated line of E’s in the search bar. 

“No!” Jon chastised, pushing the cat away again. “Fine then! Nobody gets it!” Jon closed his laptop with a clap, tucking it under his arm and swinging off of his bed, setting it back on his desk. “There! Happy?”

 _“Wrraarrow!”_ Shadow followed the laptop onto the table again, stubbornly trying to hook his paw in the seam, even biting at the corner.

Jon rubbed the palms of his hands into his eyes. “Shadow…” He moaned, dragging his hands down his face. “Buddy, come on. What’s with the sudden obsession with my computer? The keyboard can’t be _that_ comfy.”

Shadow’s slitted eyes shot over to Jon, glaring as he gnawed on the corner of his computer, tail lashing back and forth rhythmically. He finally gave up on prying the device open, resuming his much more normal habit of yelling at Jon. _“Wwrraaw!!”_

“Are you just bored?” Jon’s phone buzzed on his bed, pulling his attention away from the argument he was holding with his cat. He picked up his phone, ignoring Shadow’s next cry. It was a text message from his mom, listing the address of the vet clinic Shadow had his appointment at. She also mentioned that while the appointment was prepaid, she put some money into his bank account as an early birthday present. Jon grinned, sending back a thank you text with libral use of the heart emoji. His birthday was still a few weeks away, but after letting him keep Shadow, he wouldn’t care if they didn’t do anything the day of.

When he pocketed his phone again, Shadow was sitting on the desk, staring at Jon expectantly, tail wrapped around his paws as the tip twitched impatiently. “ Ok, I know what’s wrong with you.” Jon stated, placing his hands on his hips.

_“Ggrrr…”_

“You need _enrichment._ ” Jon accused, pointing a finger in the cat’s face. Shadow batted the hand away, face set in some kind of feline pout. Jon could tell— he was getting better at reading his body language. “Well, until we pick up some toys this afternoon, you’ll just have to settle for hanging out with _me._ ” He reached forward and scooped up the cat (ignoring his cry of protest), carried him out of his room, and shut his door behind them. Shadow, for his part, seemed to accept his fate, going limp in Jon’s arms, ears pinned back against his head. “I swear I’m not that bad when you get to know me.” Jon promised.

After all, if he managed to wear down Damian, he could wear down this cat. 

In the short amount of time he had before he had to leave for the appointment, Jon poured himself a bowl of cereal and flipped through the news channels until he found one reporting live on LexCorp. Apparently, the zombie thing was more of a mind control thing— an earpiece given to the LexCorp workers that supposedly doubled an individual’s productivity, but at the cost of some obvious motor functions and general cognition. Apparently, Luthor had already made a statement about how the product was completely voluntary and had no long term adverse effects on his employees, and that the hordes of drooling pseudo-zombies stumbling out of his office building dressed in skirts and slacks were completely unrelated and had no association with his business. Jon just wanted to catch a glimpse of his dad (or mom) in action, but by the time he had to leave around twenty minutes later, nothing exciting had happened beyond the police rounding up and gently subduing some of the hordes. They weren’t actually that violent, unless otherwise provoked.

Finding Shadow and putting him into the carrier crate that Clark had bought was very reminiscent of that first day that Jon had put him under his jacket, though Jon continuously insisted to the cat that it was more comfortable. After a ten minute long epic battle that was sure to rival whatever Lex Luthor zombie army his dad was facing off against at that same moment, Jon was off on the streets of Metropolis, carrying along a sulking black silhouette curled into a ball in the back of his crate. His battle to get Shadow into his crate lasted only a bit longer than he had anticipated for, so he reached the clinic at nearly the exact time the appointment was scheduled for. 

Since it was a weekday (a concept Jon knew would soon hold no more meaning for him as the summer wore on) there weren't many other people in. After checking in at the front desk, Jon gazed around the lobby, seeing one other person with a cat carrier, an older woman with a small white dog on her lap, and a man with a grey pit bull laying down at his feet. After the receptionist told Jon that he’d be called back soon, he thanked her and carried Shadow back to sit off to the side, nearest to the man and pit bull.

Near immediately, the dog’s ears perked up and it raised its head, nose twitching and tail starting to wag as it picked itself up and waddled up to Jon’s legs.  
“Daisy, no,” The dog’s owner chastised, tugging her back by her leash.

“It’s ok,” Jon chuckled, holding out his hand for the animal to sniff. “Hi there, Daisy.” He greeted, smile widening as she immediately started to lick his hand.

“Sorry,” The owner apologized— a man who looked almost as wide and heavily muscled as his dog. Jon wondered if he and Shadow would start to look alike. “She really likes cats, we have two at home.”

“Aaaw,” Jon cooed, scratching the dog behind an ear. Daisy smiled widely, her but wiggling with the force of her tail wagging. “Here, you can say hi.” Jon pulled Shadow’s carrier from the seat next to him onto his lap. “Shadow here has a dog older brother that he hasn’t met yet,” 

Daisy’s tail started beating even harder, and her owner laughed. “Well, now you’ve just made her day.”

Daisy pushed forward to meet the crate excitedly. Jon stayed poised to jerk back at a moment’s notice, half expecting Shadow to lunge against the door and try to cut Daisy up into little pieces. He carefully leaned forward and peeked in through the holes on the side of the carrier, overjoyed to find Shadow standing in the center of the crate, peering curiously out of the grated door at Daisy’s dopey grin. For possibly the first time since Jon had met the cat, he didn’t actually seem angry— more curious, as he leaned forward to sniff at the dog through the bars.

Daisy pushed her head right up against the grate, nose snuffling loudly. A moment later, her whole body seemed to tense up, freezing her tail mid-wag. Her floppy ears pinned back against her head, and she whined loudly.

Her owner shifted forward, eyebrows drawn together in concern. “Daisy? What’s wrong, girl?”

Jon peaked into Shadow’s crate again to make sure the cat hadn’t swiped at her with super speed, but he still seemed as calm as he had before, though he had taken a step back.

Daisy whined again, backing up farther from the crate. She barked suddenly, making everyone in the room jump in surprise from the volume and pitch.

“Daisy, _no!_ ” Her owner yanked her back again, holding her face in between his hands. “I’m sorry,” he apologized, looking genuinely shaken. Jon pulled back Shadow’s crate, confused. “I’ve never heard her make that kind of noise before.”

“It’s ok, don’t worry about it,” Jon concoled the man. Daisy tried swinging her head back around to look into Shadow’s crate again, but her owner pulled her back. “Shadow’s kind of a scary cat, maybe she got frightened.” Jon half-joked.

A woman in green scrubs passed through a door next to the front desk. “Shadow and Lois Kent?”

“Ah, here.” Jon stood up with the crate, turning one last time to face the man rubbing circles into Daisy’s cheeks, staring at her with concern. “Sorry for the trouble, I hope she’s alright.”

The man looked up, smiling apologetically. “Oh, of course, don’t worry about it. Take care.”  
“You too!” Jon waved and turned back to the vet, following her as she re-entered the hallway behind the desk. He still felt mildly guilty about Daisy’s distress, though he had no idea what had caused it.

“So, I’m assuming you’re not Lois?” The vet questioned, glancing back at Jon curiously.

“Oh— no! No, Lois is my mom. She couldn’t make it.” Jon chucked, shifting to hold the carrier in one hand so he could rub the back of his neck with the other.

“I thought you sounded a little older on the phone,” The woman teased, stopping at an empty room and holding the door for Jon. Jon stepped in, setting Shadow down on the high table and stepping aside. The vet stepped inside and turned to a sink against the wall to immediately wash her hands. “So, I understand that we’re just doing the regular vaccines? Has Shadow been vaccinated before?”

“No, I don’t think so.” Jon answered, stuffing his hands in his pocket and trying to catch a glimpse of the cat inside his crate. “He was a stray that I picked up a few days ago.”

“Oh, alright then! Well lucky for you, huh Shadow?” The woman grinned as she pulled a pair of blue latex gloves from a dispenser on the wall, slipping them into her hands. 

Jon blushed, shifting on his feet. “Uhm, he’s not super friendly, yet, so— do you want me to take him out?” If he could save the vet from the same fate he’d spared his mom when he gave Shadow his first bath, he would. Not that he could tell her that his skin was impenetrable, but it was worth offering. 

“That’s alright, I’ve dealt with angry cats before.” The vet chuckled, carefully opening the cage door. Jon held his breath, imagining Shadow bolting out and attacking the woman’s face, clawing out her eyes. (And to be fair, he _had_ already tried that move on Jon when he was trying to get them out the door earlier, so it wasn’t too far from the realm of possibility.) 

The cat surprised him for the second time that day when he remained limp and resigned as the vet reached in and pulled him out, cooing assurities. “There you go, Shadow, that’s a good kitty. Do you know if he has any food allergies?” 

Jon shut his mouth with an audible click, catching himself gawking. “Uh— no, I don’t think so? I don’t know.”

The vet hummed, pulling a brown pellet out of her breast pocket. “Well, these should be alright.” She set the treat down in front of him, and Shadow resolutely ignored it. “He’s definitely on the skinny side, but you said you only found him a couple days ago?” Jon nodded, still shell-shocked at how calm the cat was acting. The vet nodded absently, feeling along the cat’s body, peering into his ears, and lifting up his lips to check his teeth. Shadow didn’t even lash his tail. “From his size, I’d guess he was just under a year old. There’s barely any plaque build up on his teeth, either, so yeah, he’s still a young guy.” 

_That_ elicited a small growl from the cat, his ears twitching backwards. The vet chuckled, scratching along his spine and pushing the treat closer. Jon saw Shadow’s nose twitch as he sniffed, and he thought he might actually lean down to eat the treat— but instead, his paw batted forward, sending the pellet flying into the opposite wall. 

The vet blinked, eyes widening. “Well! I guess he didn’t like that one.” Jon chuckled. At least he was still _kind of_ acting like the cat he’d brought home from California. “Can you hold him here for a second while I pull out the supplies?”

Jon stepped forward and copied the way the vet was holding Shadow against the table as she stepped away to open a cabinet, fishing out needles and syringes. 

“How come you’re so nice to _her_ , huh?” Jon whispered accusingly at Shadow, shooting the cat a glare.

Shadow met Jon’s eyes, whiskers twitching. Jon imagined that was his way of laughing at him. 

The vet came back to the table after she had prepared the first shot. She explained the things it protected against, but they all went in one ear and out the other. Shadow didn’t even flinch as the needle pierced him, but Jon winced in empathy, petting the cat’s shoulders. The vet stepped away again and grabbed a second syringe, pushing it into a new vial to collect its contents. 

“And this one is the rabies shot. You’ll need to have a follow up for another rabies vaccine in a year, and after that, every three years “

“Alright.” Jon nodded, storing the information in the back of his head. Shadow reacted the same to the second shot as he did the first— not at all.

The vet tossed the last needle in the hazardous waste bin and stripped off her gloves. “And there we go! All done. You did very well, Shadow.”

“ _Mmmrrr.”_ Shadow grumbled, shifting his paws under his body.

The vet laughed at his response. “By the way, I noticed he was unneutered. Do you want to schedule a follow up appointment?”

Shadow’s head whipped around so fast Jon’s super hearing could pick up the small _pop_ of his cat bones. His slitted pupils locked onto Jon’s eyes, and glared so intensely that Jon half expected the cat to develop laser vision then and there, burning a hole through the center of Jon’s skull.

“... I— I think we’re good.” Jon stuttered, heart jumping into his throat. He knew it was silly, and that the cat couldn’t actually understand what they were talking about— and Damian was sure to lecture him on his negligent habits as a pet owner when he finally met Shadow— but… he couldn’t help but wince at the thought. He was definitely humanizing the cat too much, especially with how often he held detailed conversations with him, but by the intensity of Shadow’s glare, it was all too easy to imagine that _somehow_ he knew what they were discussing, and he was obviously _not_ a fan. “He’s going to be an indoor cat anyways.” Jon tried to explain.

The vet gave him a look that clearly showed her disapproval. “Well, I can’t force you, but I highly encourage it anyways. We don’t want any more homeless cats on the streets, and unneutered toms are known to spray furniture to mark their territories.”

“Well— He’s been in our house for a few days now, and he’s been fine. And we live in a highrise, so there’s no chance of him getting out.” Jon insisted, ushering Shadow back inside the crate. The cat grumbled, but hopped in willingly.

“Still, bring it up with your mom, ok?”

Jon agreed, even though he had no intention to, and thanked the veterinarian profusely. She led him back down the hall and held the door for him to re-enter the lobby. Daisy and her owner were gone, and Jon felt a twinge of guilt about missing them.

He pushed out onto the street, taking a deep breath of the— admittedly, not very fresh— Metropolis air. Still smelled better than Gotham, at least. Jon smiled as he felt the sun warm his skin, his kryptonian blood making his veins hum and tingle from the contact. 

He lifted up Shadow’s crate to eye level, peering in through the door. Shadow stared flatly back, completely ungrateful that Jon had just saved his bits from getting cut. “Alright, boy.” Jon greeted him, grin never faltering. “Lets get you some toys.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a longer chapter! Only three or four more after this— will this be the first story I actually start and finish in a timely manner??? whose to say....


	7. “Wwaaaarraaaow!!”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jon plans a birthday party and receives a surprise visit :)

_“Mmmrrroooaaw!”_

_“Maaaaoorrroooww!”_

_“Wwwrrraaaaww!!”_

_“Jon,_ ” Lois had her elbows splayed on the table, fingers massaging her temples. “Would you tell your cat to shut up?”

“He doesn’t listen to me,” Jon said around his mouthful of toast.

_“Mmrraawwwooww!”_

Jon leaned back in his seat in the kitchen, peering around the entryway to the living room. “Hey Shadow, stop yelling, you’re giving mom a headache.”

Shadow wailed again, and Jon leaned his seat back down, waving his hand to illustrate his point to his mom.

“Go see what’s bothering him,” Lois pinched the bridge of her nose and waved her hand dismissively. “This is my first day off since the last big Lexcorp incident, I deserve to drink my coffee in silence.”

Jon shrugged, bringing his empty plate to the sink before turning into the living room. He’d gotten out of bed with Shadow relatively early that morning, considering it was Summer. Shadow still wasn’t cuddling with him, but he’d recently been waking up to find the cat curled up at his feet, so Jon was _positive_ that he was making progress. He caught his dad as he was watching the news before heading off to work (at the Daily Planet, not the Justice League) and he’d left the television on, playing the news at a low volume. 

That seemed to be what was upsetting Shadow— the cat was standing on the table the TV sat on and had his back arched inward, front paws splayed across the television screen. He made eye contact with Jon, and immediately started lashing his tail, mouth opening wide in another wail. 

“What’s up, Shadow?” Jon questioned. When he got close, the cat jumped away, anticipating Jon’s hands reaching forward to pick him up. He stood at the opposite end of the television screen, intense green gaze glaring daggers at Jon. 

“Something wrong?” Jon asked again.

Shadow lifted a paw and batted at the television screen, hard enough to be audible and cause a flash of discoloration over the impact spot.

“Don’t like the TV?” 

“ _Wrrraawrr!”_

Jon turned to the couch, lifting up a pillow to find the controller. “Here, I’ll turn it off for you.”

_“Mrraaow!!”_

Jon turned around as Shadow stood on his hind paws, front legs holding him up on the edge of the television, his tail thrashing violently. He raised the remote to turn it off, but found himself pausing when he noticed what was playing.

It was still on the news, but it had moved on from local since Clark had left. Now a segment from Gotham was playing. 

His hand holding the remote dropped to his side as Jon was drawn into the program. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary— Some shots of a burnt out pizza parlour that had apparently been the base for some cultist group. Again, nothing out of the ordinary, by Gotham’s standards. The newscaster read out a statement issued by the police commissioner as they showed a couple different angles of the burnt out shop, highlighting the shattered windows and black char marks streaking outside the door. Jon watched it for a few more moments, not sure what he was hoping to see. The news stations in Gotham had been using the same grainy, motion blurred shot of Batman for news segments involving him for seven years straight. Robin wasn’t even in the picture.

Jon noticed Shadow watching him intently, sitting next to the TV. Jon raised his arm again and hit the power, prompting another cry from the cat.

“What? I turned it off, isn’t that what you wanted?”

Shadow spat at him and jumped off the table, racing down the hall. Jon huffed and collapsed onto the couch. It’d been exactly three weeks since he’d heard from Damian, and as far as he knew, the boy was still missing.

He just felt frustrated with how out of the loop he was with everything. He knew that Batman was searching for him, and Clark had confirmed as much, but beyond that, Jon had no idea how far along their case was. Were they close? Far? Did they ever catch that witch? As far as Jon knew, Damian could already be back home and recovering. Not that anyone would tell _him_.

Jon lifted a pillow, unconsciously hugging it to his chest as he spaced out. All that he had to go off of was his old text messages that were still left unopened. When they were marked as read, he knew that would be Damian’s way of letting him know that he was back. And maybe, if Damian was feeling extra affectionate after going through whatever he had gone through, Jon would be lucky enough to receive an annoyed message berating him for spamming. Jon smiled wistfully at the thought. 

“Jonathan?” 

Jon jerked himself out of his daydreams with a wince. His mom using his full name never meant anything good. “Yeah?”

Lois poked her head around the corner. “Did you leave your jacket out?”

“My jacket?”

“For your Superboy costume.”

Jon blinked, eyes widening as he rushed to remember. He’d been going out on patrols most days now that he didn’t have school, and he’d gotten home later than usual last night. “I might’ve?” Jon tried. “Why?”

In answer, his mom looked down past her ankles. Following her gaze downward, Jon spotted Shadow slowly rounding the corner, waddling determinedly with his jaws clenched around Jon’s Superboy jacket, the majority of the garment trailing between his legs.

Jon’s eyes widened further. “What— Shadow!” He leaped off of the couch, and Lois burst into laughter as he crouched down to try and take the uniform from him. “Give it— Mom, quit it!” Jon glared up, stifling his own laugh.

Lois had her hand over her mouth, eyes sparkling. “I think he found out your secret identity.”

Shadow growled around the neck of the Superboy jacket, refusing to let it go as Jon gently tugged it back. “Shadow,” Jon addressed the cat, ignoring his mom. “Shadow, buddy, I need this. Drop it.”

Shadow growled at him, holding on resolutely.

“I’ve told you not to leave your costume lying around.” Lois reminded him, her smile evident in her voice.

“I _know,_ mom,” Jon groaned, trying to edge his finger into Shadow’s tiny mouth. “I thought I tucked it away, but I got home late, and I was gonna put it away fully before I left…”

“Your lucky Shadow found it before your school friends did.”

“They’re not even coming over today, we’re just meeting up at Centennial Park…” Jon’s finger finally proved annoying enough, and Shadow moved to bite at it, giving enough slack for Jon to yank the jacket free from his hold “... for milkshakes!” 

“Impressive” Lois complimented Jon’s success, the boy standing up and holding the jacked out for reach of Shadow, who had tried to chase it. “Do you need money?”

“No, I still have the birthday money that you gave me.” Jon balled up the jacked, tucking it under his arm. Shadow lashed his tail, glaring darkly at Jon.

“Well I’m glad you didn’t spend _all_ of it on cat toys,” Lois teased.

Lon let the sleeve of his jacket dangle over Shadow teasingly, but the cat seemed to only want it when he couldn’t have it, resolutely looking away from the invitation. “He doesn’t even like anything that I got him.” Jon lamented, sighing and pulling the jacket sleeve back. “He won’t touch them.”

Lois hugged her arm across her chest, gripping her bicep as she watched Shadow stubbornly ignore Jon but in a very intentional way so that Jon _knew_ that he was ignoring him. “Didn’t he like the laser pointer?”

“Barely.” Shadow looked to Jon again, so he tried dangling his jacket sleeve once more. And again, Shadow lifted his nose and turned his head. “He jumped at it once, then got all stiff and weird and just left the room. I think he’s embarrassed.” 

_“Mmmaaow.”_

“By the way, that reminds me.” Jon tossed the jacket over his shoulder, giving up on catching Shadow’s attention with it. “Can I invite people over for my birthday?”

Lois blinked, looking genuinely surprised. “Yeah, of course, sweetie. Why wouldn’t you?”

Jon shifted. “Well, I mean, you already let me keep Shadow, so I’d understand if we didn’t—”

“Jon, we’re still going to celebrate your birthday.” Lois stated firmly, walking across the room to kiss Jon on his head. Jon grinned. “Who were you thinking of inviting?”

“Kathy, Olivia, Alan, and Georgia, from school.” Jon listed. “Do you think it’d be ok if we had Conner over too?”

“Of course!” Lois expressed. “I’ll make sure your dad stays on his best behavior.”

Jon smiled wider. His dad likely wouldn’t even be able to be there for the full day, so he wasn’t worried about him and Conner not getting along. 

“Anyone else?” Lois asked.

Jon opened his mouth, but stopped himself. He chewed his lower lip before answering. “No, that should be fine. Thanks mom.”

“I’ll get in contact with Conner to make sure he’s free.” Lois kissed Jon one last time before leaving the room.

Jon’s eyes floated down to meet with Shadow, who had sat by his foot and listened to his and his mom’s conversation. Jon crouched down to scratch at his ears. The cat put up with it for a few seconds before standing up and walking off. Jon sighed.

He hoped Damian would still be able to make it to his birthday. It was over a week away— he _had_ to be back by then, right? Batman would find him. 

An hour later, Jon was dressed and sipping milkshakes with his friends in Centennial Park, catching up on how their summer’s were progressing. Jon was glad that none of their families were travelling— he couldn’t handle any more absent friends. 

Georgia was taking soccer lesions over the Summer like she did every year, and Kathy’s older sister was home from college. Kathy made sure to emphasize that was _bad_ news, because she had brought her boyfriend and they were _very_ loud at night. Olivia had started working part time at her parent’s store, and Alan had gotten a new sketchbook that he was scared to draw in. He seemed sheepish that he hadn’t been doing as much as anyone else, but Jon shut him down. Alan had only picked up drawing a few months ago, and Jon may have been biased, because Alan was his friend, but he was _good._ Jon loved to encourage his friends, and loved to see them doing things that made them happy— aside from Kathy, who was scared to leave her bedroom.

As for Jon, everyone demanded to see pictures of the new cat that he had mentioned during finals week. Unfortunately, Jon didn’t have much to show, because it seemed that every time he pulled his phone up to take pictures, Shadow would run and hide. The best he had managed were grainy and blurred, or bad angles from across the room as Jon tried to sneakily snap a few. He’d heard about black cats being unphotogenic, but with Shadow, it seemed more of an outright refusal to be photographed. Jon had no idea why or how the cat could even tell, but Shadow was weird in a number of ways. 

Everyone agreed to come to his house on his birthday, Georgia bolding stating she would come only to meet Shadow. Olivia offered some much nicer pictures of her own dog in the meantime, and the conversation moved on until they finished their drinks. They spent some time in the city mall just window shopping until Alan had to leave, and the party gradually splintered from there until Jon was walking home himself, his friends having all left for one reason or another.

Jon himself had figured it was about time he went on patrol for the day, but he couldn’t exactly excuse himself for that reason. His school friends were great, and he loved hanging out and spending time with them— but his secret was always hanging over his head, the guilt that he could never share such a core part of his life and his identity with them. He could never be _fully_ honest with them.

He missed Damian.

Jon stepped out of the elevator onto his floor. His hands were stuffed into the pockets of his jeans, his mind a black cartoon scribble cloud as he walked through the hallway. Turning the corner, he looked up to find someone waiting outside of his door.

“Dick?”

The older man started, having been leaning against the wall scrolling on his phone. He made eye contact with Jon and smiled, tucking the phone into a jacket pocket. “Hey, kid, there you are.”

Jon pulled his own hands out of his pockets as he neared him. “What’s… what are you doing here?” Not that he didn’t _like_ seeing Dick, it just felt strange, considering he was Damian’s friend— “Wait, is this about Damian? Did you find him?” Jon couldn’t help the jump in his heart, or the hopeful smile building on his face.

Dick grimaced, and Jon felt his shoulders deflate. “Ah, no, I’m sorry Jon. He’s— we don’t have him yet.”

Jon always wore his emotions on his sleeve, a trait he got from his father. Damian, on the other hand, rarely showed any emotion, a trait he inherited from _his_ father. Everyone in his family had that in common— when you were raised by Batman, you learned to mask your emotions. Dick usually seemed the odd one out in that way, wearing a smile instead of a scowl, making sharp quips instead of wordless grunting. Now, though, Jon could barely read anything from his expression— nothing that Dick didn’t want him to read, anyways. “Oh.”

Dick smiled apologetically. “B is still working the case. I am too, now— as of yesterday.”  
“Oh,” Jon repeated. His eyebrows drew together in confusion. “Why only yesterday? It’s— It’s been weeks,” Jon couldn’t help the hopeless lilt in his tone, and he thought he caught a flash of pain across Dick’s face before it was schooled back down.

“Yeah, well, I only just found out yesterday. You know how Bruce can get.” 

He sounded too dismissive for Jon’s liking, making short of what should have been a bigger deal. But, when Jon listened, he could hear Dick’s heart rate increasing as he spoke, his blood pressure almost visually rising. Jon didn’t question him on it further. “So there’s no news?”

Dick shook his head, a sympathetic smile on his face. “No, not yet.”

“So why are you here?” Jon didn’t mean it to sound rude, but if Dick was really just here to tell him that nothing has happened to find Damian because his dad was too stuck up to ask his family for help in finding their youngest member— he might become a bit peeved. 

Dick didn’t seem to take offense to the question. He gestured widely to Jon, palms out. “Well, you’re Damian’s best friend, right?”

“Did he say that?” Jon blurted, eyes bulging out his head.

Dick laughed, a short noise that surprised both of them. He coughed into the back of his wrist, taking a breath to compose himself. “Not— not in as many words, maybe, but yeah. And since B is doing his regular stellar job at networking, I figured it’d at least be good to have you as a contact, yeah? Just in case you find anything.”

“Oh.” Jon blinked. “I’m not— but, I’m not doing anything to look for him. Should I?”

Dick was shaking his head before Jon even finished speaking. “No, you shouldn’t do anything you don’t want to, and B runs a pretty tight ship, and crossing paths with him at any point would just slow everything down. But just in case Damian contacts you or anything, I want you to have a faster way of getting in contact with us instead of going through your dad.” Dick had pulled his phone out and opened the lock screen.

Jon quickly copied him, fumbling to open his contacts. “Oh, yeah, ok, sure! That’s a good idea. What’s your number?”

“You have a new contact open?”

Jon nodded, and Dick leaned closer, passing his phone over Jon’s. As he pulled back, his contact was already saved. Jon blinked, jaw dropping.”I didn’t know my phone could do that.”

Dick laughed. “Wayne tech.” He waved his phone and winked, dropping it in his pocket. “It also gave me your contact info, so we’re both good now. Thanks for that.”

“Oh, yeah, of course.” Jon blinked and pocketed his phone again. Dick was obviously gearing up to leave, but Jon found he didn’t want to see him go just yet. If for no other reason, just so he could find out what other nice things Damian had said about him behind his back. “I got a cat.”

Dick froze half a step away from the wall. Jon guessed he could have felt proud to have taken a bat off-guard, but mostly he felt embarrassed. “Oh?” Dick tried, offering a crooked smile. “Congrats?”

“His name is Shadow, and he’s kinda mean but I like him anyways.” Jon rushed out. “Well, he’s really mean. And loud. But I still like him.”

Dick’s smile evened out into something almost fond, and he exhaled through his nose. “Sounds like you have a type.”

Jon wasn’t sure what he meant, but he pressed forward. “Do you wanna meet him?”

Dick’s eyebrows turned sympathetically, and he shook his head. “Sorry, I gotta head to Gotham. Maybe some other time, though.” 

Jon tried not to let his disappointment show. He’d literally just gotten back from hanging out with his school friends— he had no reason feeling as desperate for company as he did. Jon returned Dick’s strained smile. “Alright. Thanks anyways. Would you let me know when there’s any progress on Damian?”

“Of course, Jon.” Dick clapped his hand on Jon’s shoulder, smiling with thin lips. “Hopefully we’ll be hearing from each other sooner rather than later, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Jon agreed, and Dick let his shoulder go as he walked past him, retracing his steps back to the elevator. 

Jon sighed through his nose, pulling out his key card and unlocking his door. It’d barely opened a crack before a dark shape was shooting out of it, exploding past Jon and racing down the hall. “Ah— Shadow!” Jon cried, turning on his heel. 

Dick hadn’t even turned the corner in the hall yet. Hearing Jon shout, he turned back around, only to be greeted by a sharp black blur crashing into his stomach. Dick stumbled back, shoulders rising as he picked his hands up, and Jon raced down the hall to meet him. “Shadow, _no!_ I’m so sorry, Dick—”

“ _Mmrrraaaaaooo!”_ Shadow howled into Dick’s stomach, his front paws spread widely and clinging to the man’s shirt, back legs digging into his naval, and his tail lashing wildly as he struggled to keep his hold. 

“ _Uhh—_ ” Dick stared wide-eyed down at the cat clinging to his person. Shadow’s claws started audibly popping through the weave of his shirt, so Dick hastily reached down to support the cat. “This is Shadow, I presume?” He joked, wincing.

Jon huffed a breath as he reached Dick, skidding to a halt. “Yes, it is. I’m so sorry, I don’t know— _Shadow,_ ” Jon reached forward, addressing the cat directly and rubbing his knuckle along the cat’s spine, working his way to finessing his hand between Shadow and Dick. “What are you _doing?”_

“ _Mmuuaaaaaoooo!”_ Shadow howled again, his voice sounding like a moan. Of all the many sounds he’d made, this one sounded new.

“Hah, I get what you mean about him being loud,” Dick commented, still wincing from the cat’s claws. “Heeey, kitty, it’s nice to meet you, but—” Dick cut himself off with a sharp intake of breath as he tried removing one of Shadow’s arms from his waist, resulting in the cat digging in more forcefully. 

“Shadow, _let go.”_ Jon urged, halfway between stern and begging. It took a stupid amount of wrestling, but the two vigalante superheroes were eventually able to pry the smaller than average cat off of Dick with minimal bloodshed. 

“ _Haaah,”_ Dick breathed once he was free, placing a hand gingerly over his side. _“Ow._ That thing has some serious claws,”

“ _Wwaaaarraaaow!!”_ Shadow was thrashing wildly in Jon’s hold, still reaching out for Dick— Jon only kept his hold out of fear for the older man’s life.

“I’m so sorry, I really don’t know why he’s doing this,” Jon apologized profusely. “He hasn’t met that many people yet, but he didn’t attack mom or dad when he met them—”

“Jon, it’s ok,” Dick grinned, huffing a breathless laugh. “Believe me, I’ve had worse. But, still, I’m gonna leave before that thing comes after me again.”

“ _Wwwrraaaaoow!”_

Jon kept his grip on the feline firm. “Probably a good idea,” He smiled apologetically.

Dick turned away, and Shadow reached both paws forward, toes splayed in the air, claws reaching desperately for the man. _“Wwwwwwaaaaooww!”_

Dick paused as he turned the corner, giving one last confused glance to the violent, crying cat in Jon’s hold.

Then he was gone.

Shadow still struggled in Jon’s grip all the way until the front door clicked shut behind them, when he seemingly gave up, going completely limp.

Jon lowered him to the floor quickly, worried that he’d hurt the cat in his grip. He set him down, and Shadow stood on wobbling legs. He moved forward a few steps, finding the corner where the floor met the wall, and he sunk down there, keeping his back to Jon.

Jon crawled forward, concern growing, He quickly scanned over Shadow with his x-ray vision, not seeing any broken or fractured bones. He pet along Shadows back gently, and the cat didn’t even growl. He just looked… depressed.

“Are you sad because I wouldn’t let you kill Dick?” Jon asked, half incredulous and half out of genuine concern.

Shadow flicked an ear, the only movement aside from the slow rise and fall of his stomach. 

Since nothing looked physically wrong with him, Jon was at a loss for what to do— so he gave the cat space, pouring him fresh water in his bowl and topping off his food. Then, deciding to forgo his plans to patrol the city that afternoon, Jon stayed home and watched Netflix.

His mom came home an hour later with groceries, eventually turning into her room to do more work, because as much as she complained, Lois Lane could never actually take a full day off if she tried. Throughout the rest of the day, Jon saw Shadow sparingly. The cat usually liked to lurk, watching Jon and his family go about their business while sitting in the doorway or under the table, but for now, he stayed curled up in the farthest corner of the house.

As much as Jon wanted to check on him, he settled for keeping an ear on the cat’s heartbeat and movements. Only after the sun was setting did he come out again— not all at once, but slowly, in intervulves. At eight thirty, he was in the hallway. By nine, the kitchen. At nine fifteen, he stepped into the living room, staring at Jon watching his show. Jon made eye contact with the cat and smiled, and the cat looked away, so Jon pretended not to notice him for the rest of the hour as he slowly crept closer and closer.

By ten, Jon usually would’ve turned off the TV and moved into his room, even if he wasn’t going to actually sleep for another hour or more. But Shadow had jumped up onto the couch with him, so Jon stayed glued to his seat, hardly daring to breathe or blink in fear of scaring him off. At ten fifteen, Shadow was no longer on the opposite end of the couch, but laying close enough that his side was brushing Jon’s legs folded next to him. 

Finally, just past ten thirty, Shadow gave an almost inaudible sigh, and carefully climbed his way fully onto Jon’s lap, settling himself with his chin resting on Jon’s limp arm. 

This could very easily have been one of the happiest moments of Jon’s life.

He carefully raised the arm that Shadow wasn’t resting his head on and gently stroked the cat down his back rhythmically. His whiskers twitched, and he lay there completely silent. Eventually, _finally,_ Jon started to hear a soft but definite _purring._

Shadow had _never_ purred before. He’d howled, yowled, growled, hissed, spat, and more recently, cried— but in the entire two week’s he’d been living with Jon and his family, he’d never heard him purr.

Jon was completely ignoring the show at this point, his full attention glued to his lap and the small bundle of content fur that was melting into it.

He didn’t know what time it was when his mom came out of her room, but surely it was late enough that she was going to give him an earful for keeping the TV on. Luckily, she seemed to somehow pick out the dark shape on Jon’s lap apart from all the other dark shadows in the room, the only illumination coming from the TV screen playing at low volume.

Lois tip toed over to Jon, her face softened in the low flickering light. “You know, you shouldn’t watch TV in the dark.”

“It wasn’t dark earlier,” Jon defended, keeping his voice a whisper. Shadow was purring in his sleep, and it was _adorable._ “And besides, I couldn’t get up.”

“I can see that,” Lois teased, matching him in volume. “Still, it’s long past time you crawled into bed.” She leaned forward, placing her hand on his shoulder and kissing his temple.

The slight movement was enough to jostle Shadow awake, and the cat groggily growled.

Lois scoffed, faking being offended. “Oh, am I not allowed to kiss my own son anymore, Shadow?”

Jon laughed quietly, his chest bouncing only rousing the cat further. He raised his head and growled louder.

Lois smirked. “Possessive much, huh? I don’t think he likes to share you, Jon.”

Jon carefully bundled the cat up into his arms, holding the small warm body close. He smiled dopily, eyes stinging from dryness, and body aching from sitting in the same position too long. Shadow’s small chest rumbled with something that wasn’t quite a growl, but not a purr either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for 1k hits! Sorry it took a week for this chapter to get up, I've been struggling a bit writing the next, as its like, the meat of the story. Hope yall are still havin fun on this ride!!


	8. "Happy Birthday!" (Part I)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jon turns 15 :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up, what I wrote turned out twice as long as all the previous chapters, so, I cut in in half! And also I went back and gave all the previous chapters names just so that I can write "part 1" in the title of this one and "part 2" in the title of the next.  
> Also, I swear Jon's school friends aren't OCs, I literally flipped through the supersons books to find all of his named classmates. Like 3 of them are from smallville but we're ignoring that.
> 
> Lastly, the tags have been updated to include what's in store this chapter and the next. Have fun!

Jon woke up on his fifteenth birthday to the smell of crepes wafting down the hall, and Shadow curled up against his chest— the combination of both things promising a great day ahead of him. Shadow still wasn’t big on physical contact, but ever since the day that Dick had visited, he’d been just barely more affectionate than before. He never fell asleep in Jon’s bed, but he’d woken up with Shadow curled next to him more than once over the last couple weeks.

Every time previously, the slightest movement had Shadow jolting awake and jumping away. This morning, graciously, he only grumbled as Jon shifted the blankets and stretched. Jon sat up and pet him gently along the spine, a soft, sleepy smile on his face.

“Good morning, Shadow,” He mumbled over the soft noises of both his parents in the kitchen.

_ “Mrrrr.”  _ Shadow rolled onto his side, pulling a paw over one of his ears, covering his face. It was adorable.

“Are you staying in bed with me today because it’s my birthday?”

_ “Rrr.” _

The smell of breakfast was too alluring to ignore for long. Jon left his room with Shadow trotting close on his heels, welcomed by the sight and smells of his parents cooking breakfast, and a large joyful family hug. He knew his dad had to go in to work at the Planet today— a fact that seemed to bother Clark more than it did Jon— but he was able to stick around for breakfast, and swore up and down that he’d be home in time for them to cut the birthday cake, meteorite hurtling towards earth notwithstanding.

After breakfast, Ma and Pa Kent called, and Jon spent some time on the phone with them, making plans to visit the farm on Clark’s next day off. It was nice.

After his morning shower, which had turned into more of a midday shower after his long breakfast and conversation with his grandparents, Jon spent the time waiting for his friends to show attempting to get Shadow to play with him, bouncing the toy mouse on a string around the cat’s head as Shadow pretended to be asleep.

Alan showed up first just a few minutes past one, a drawing sketchbook tucked under his arm. When Jon asked about it, the other boy only winked, promising that he’d know what it was for soon enough. Jon turned on his TV so the two of them could play Mario Kart as they waited for the girls to arrive. Jon was having a great time beating Alan in the Mushroom Cup up until Georgia arrived and joined in the game— effectively crushing Jon’s winning streak.

“It’s my birthday,” Jon whined, letting his controller drop as his character crossed the finish line. “Aren’t you supposed to go easy on me?”

“Would if I could,” Georgia said without a hint of remorse. “Honestly, as soon as the race starts, I completely black out, and Baby Rosalina takes over my body, forcing me to win. It’s a curse.”

“I wanna play as Sonic,” Alan pouted, just then passing the finish line in eighth place. “They should add Sonic.”

“Sonic is Sega,” Jon interjected.

“But he and Mario played in the Olympics together!”

There was a knock at the door, and Jon pulled himself up to answer it, leaving Alan and Georgia to argue about the merits of adding a character who runs fast to a game where you drive around in go-karts. 

“Hey Kathy!” Jon greeted before the door was even fully opened— so what if he peeked through the door with a little X-ray vision? Who could tell?

“Hey Jon!” Kathy beamed, her hair up in its usually pigtails, and wearing a soft pastel summer dress. “Happy birthday!”   
“Thanks,” Jon smiled back, but his ears involuntarily picked up a spike in Kathy’s heartbeat as soon as he opened the door. He stepped aside as she entered, making her way to the couch with the rest of their friends. 

Jon glanced around outside the door, curious about what could have made her nervous, but Kathy had come up completely alone. Which wasn’t unusual— his friends visited often enough during the school year that their parents usually just dropped them off at the street. Parking was too much trouble this deep in the city, anyways.

Jon shut the door and went back to the couch, where Georgia and Alan were already setting up the game to add in a new player. Kathy’s heart rate was already starting to mellow out, so Jon decided to leave it be. She was probably just surprised that he answered the door so quickly— and it wasn’t the only time that he’d ever heard a random spike from her. She always seemed more calm and comfortable when they were in a group. Jon didn’t take it personally, he knew everyone had their own weird anxieties.

Alan, for instance, only grew quieter as more of their friends arrived. Jon didn’t hold it against him— he was just like that. Jon knew that he was still having fun, even if he kept losing. Georgia wasn’t a very humble winner, either, but all of them were used to her competitive nature enough to not care. Olivia, predictably, was going to be arriving late because she couldn’t get out of work, even though her parents were her bosses. And he knew with certainty that when she did arrive, she’d be distracted and spacy for the first twenty minutes, at least. All of them had their own personality quirks that made them different, but Jon loved all of them. 

And heck, he could fill an entire book with how many personality quirks Damian had. That was one of the many reasons why he felt like his friendship with him was so extra-special.

“So like, are we gonna see Damian today?”

Jon started, glancing back towards Georgia. Her focus was still completely engrossed in the game, which Jon hurriedly glanced back to. “Uh, what?”

“Damian, you know. Pointy hair, deep pockets. Asshole.”

“ _ Language!” _ Lois called from the kitchen, where she was getting started on the cake..

“Sorry Mrs. Lane!” Georgia called back, still winning at Mario Kart.

“I haven’t seen him since middle school.” Kathy continued where Georgia left off. “He went to high school in Gotham, right? Like, two or three years ago?”

“Yeah,” Jon confirmed, chewing his lip and drawing his eyebrows together. He wasn’t expecting his friends to ask about Damian.

“But you two obviously still hang out, because you talk about him, like,  _ all _ the time.”

Jon misjudged a jump and his character drove off the side of the map. Alan’s character passed by him as Jon was still being fished back by Lakitu. “Uh, yeah, no, he couldn’t make it.”

“Too busy with rich person things?” Georgia sneered. She hadn’t seen Damian since they were twelve, yet it seemed she could still hold onto her one-sided rivalry.

“No,” Jon defended, voice a little hotter than he meant. “He’d be here if he could!”

“Oh my god,” Alan interrupted, leaning forward. “Am I gonna win?”

At some point he had jumped to third place, and Jon had fallen to fifth. Alan was even ahead of Kathy, in fourth.

“Not a chance,” Georgia scoffed. “You’re never getting ahead of Baby Rosalina. And you still have Isabell between us.” They were on the last round, though, and tensions were high enough that the conversation was able to peter out without Jon giving an actual reasoning as to why Damian wasn’t there.

Alan managed to hold his third place position until he crossed the finish line, where he threw his hands up in the air joyously. “I can’t believe it!” He cried. “I have to call my mom.”

“This is lame,” Kathy pouted, even though she still came out ahead of Jon. “Shy Guy’s not doin’ it for me. Can I switch characters?”

They backed out to the character select screen, where Kathy swapped to Baby Daisy, much to Georgia’s delight. 

“Alan, you should switch to baby Luigi.”

“But I like normal Luigi. And I just got third place with him!”

“Let’s all be babies!” Georgia stormed ahead, grin bordering on manic. “Jon, you be Baby Mario.”

“But I always play as Toad.” More specifically, Jon always played as Toad, and Damian always played as Yoshi.

“Baby squad!” Georgia insisted, Kathy’s giggles only fuling her. “Let’s go, people! You can change back later, just one round!”

Jon and Alan grumbled similarly as they picked their Georgia-assigned characters. The following round didn’t feel all that special, but Jon was glad it made Georgia happy.

“Hey, where’s your new cat?” Alan piped up as they finished the game, setting his controller aside.

“Oh yeah!” Georgia jumped in her seat, glancing wildly around the room. “Shadow, right?”

“Yeah.” Jon confirmed. “He’s hiding in my room. He’s kinda shy,”

“Bring him out!” Georgia demanded.

Jon laughed, holding up his hands in surrender as he got to his feet. “Alright, fine. But he’s really not cuddly with strangers.”

“Can I come with you?” Kathy spoke up suddenly.

Jon nodded, pausing in the doorway. “Yeah, sure.”

Kathy bounced to her feet and joined Jon at the doorway, and he led the way to his bedroom. His door was left ajar, just enough space for a feline body to slip in and out— not that Shadow was ever going to take the invitation. He heard the cats heartbeat under his bed, so he started to kneel down. “He usually hides under here,” He explained to Kathy, who had entered his room with him. “He’s pretty sneaky, but I bet I can fish him out…” He could just make out the reflective surface of Shadow’s eyes glaring at him from the farthest corner under his bed.

“Uhm— Jon?”

“Yeah?” Jon stopped just before crawling completely under the bed.

“Can I actually talk to you?”

Jon pulled his head back out to find Kathy fidgeting beside him. He had been so focused on Shadow’s heartbeat, he hadn’t even noticed his friend’s picking up again. “Oh— yeah, of course.”

Jon pulled himself up as Kathy sat down on top of his bed, her legs dangling off the frame. Jon sat down on his bed as well— the best way to comfort someone was to stay on their level. Though he had no idea what Kathy could be so suddenly upset about. “Is everything ok?”

Kathy laughed nervously, avoiding eye contact. “Yeah, it’s— it’s nothing bad. I just, uhm. Well, honestly, I came in here with you because I wanted to tell you something in private.”

Jon blinked. “Ok,” He prompted.  _ Does it have something to do with my birthday? _ He  _ told  _ all his friends not to bring him presents...

“Well, uh— I like you.”

It took a moment for Jon to process the words. Kathy was obviously nervous, but she hadn’t stuttered too horribly or tripped over her words. She was simply stating a fact, confessing a truth. And it was so  _ not _ something that Jon was expecting, that when the meaning finally hit him, his eyes bulged out of his skull, the thick framed glasses he had to wear around his school friends sliding down the bridge of his nose. He could feel his face blossoming in heat. “ _ W— What?”  _ he squeaked.

“I like you,” Kathy repeated, still with her shaky level of confidence, hesitantly making eye contact. “I— I wanted to tell you while we were still in school, but I chickened out. So, I wanted to say it now.”

“O— oh.” Jon swallowed, looking resolutely down at his comforter. His hands balled into fists on his jeans.

“I think you’re the sweetest guy I know, and one of my best friends.” Kathy went on. Jon felt like his gut had come alive and was trying to escape. He looked up, hesitantly, meeting Kathy’s eyes. She looked like she had gained confidence, though he could still hear her heart hammering wildly. He knew why, now— Jon’s heart was  _ also _ beating frantically. 

“ _ Uhm. _ ” Kathy seemed to have paused, giving Jon a chance to speak, but he had no idea what to say. “Uh, I—”

Kathy shifted forward, and Jon froze up. She cupped his right cheek gently, and lightly pressed her lips against his left. It wasn’t a forceful kiss, by any means— And Jon had super speed  _ and _ super strength, so he could’ve pulled away at any moment. Kathy was giving him every opportunity to. 

But Jon didn’t. Not because he was enjoying himself— quite the opposite, he felt too sick to move.

_ “Ow!” _ Kathy flinched and pulled back sharply, jerking her legs up and onto the bed.

Jon saw a dark feline shape zoom out from under the bed, turning sharply to hide under his dresser.

“I’m bleeding!” Kathy gasped. Jon glanced back at her, and sure enough, there were four fresh red lines on her ankle beginning to bead with blood.

Jon stood up, ramrod straight. “I’m sorry!” He rushed to the dresser, crouching down to peek under. Shadow stared back, his haunches bunched and tail lashing back and forth. “I’m sorry, he’s just— Shadow— here, boy, come out…” Jon stuttered incoherently, mind a jumbled mess. 

Much to his surprise, Shadow actually moved forward on his command, allowing Jon to wrap his hand under his chest and pull him out. He held Shadow close to his chest, stroking his back and taking a deep, shaky breath before standing up.

“... Is your ankle ok?” Jon asked, facing Kathy but keeping his eyes on Shadow as he pet him.

“It’s fine,” she assured hurriedly. “It just surprised me.”

“My mom jokes that he doesn’t like to share me,” Jon said, half heartedly. Shadow looked back at Jon, his sharp emerald eyes piercing through him. Jon looked back at the cat, and took one final shaking breath. “Kathy… You’re also one of my best friends, and I do really,  _ really _ like you, but…”

“Not in that way?” 

Jon finally looked up fully, feeling completely pathetic and heartbroken. Which made  _ no sense, _ because  _ he _ was the one turning down  _ her— _ But Kathy didn’t seem too distraught. At least, not like what Jon saw in movies when the guy turns the girl down. “Yeah,” he confirmed. “Sorry.”

Kathy matched Jon’s deep breath, looking down at her dress. She smoothed it out over her lap in two quick motions. “That’s ok. I should be the one apologizing— I didn’t want to ruin your whole birthday with this. I’ll leave if it’s too awkward—”

“Please don’t,” Jon interrupted, practically begging. “Please, I’ll feel awful if you leave—”

“But, I already made things so weird, and I don’t want to—”

“ _ Please _ , Kathy?” Jon hugged Shadow close, staring at Kathy with wide, pleading eyes. “You didn’t ruin anything, ok? You’re still my friend, and I want you here.”

Kathy finally met Jon’s eyes again, and he could see how wet her eyes looked. She sniffed, quickly wiping away the unshed tears. Jon heard a knock on the front door, though he wasn’t sure if Kathy could pick it up. “Ok,” She agreed, letting out a big breath of air. “Ok, I’ll stay. I am sorry, Jon, really.”

“It’s fine,” Jon promised, though he could definitely still feel a tightness in his chest that he knew he’d have to address later. Right now, he just wanted to forget about it.

“ _ Mrrr.” _ Shadow wiggled in his hold, and Jon let him drop to the floor. Kathy visibly tensed as he slunk back towards her, keeping her legs well above his reach— but the cat only ducked back under the bed, disappearing once more. 

“Come on, let’s get you a bandaid.” Jon held out his hand, and Kathy hesitated to take it. She glanced up at him, and Jon smiled— shaky, but genuine. Kathy matched it, and gripped his hand in her own, pulling herself off of his bed.

In the hall, Jon pointed her to the bathroom, even though he was sure she remembered. He took a moment of reprieve for himself as he heard his mom walk to answer the door as it was knocked again. Jon breathed in deeply through his nose, and exhaled through his mouth.  _ As… awkward… as that was, I still have a party to get back to _ , he told himself.  _ I’ll just… think about this later. _

Jon came out of the hall as his mom opened the front door, a wide smile on her face. “Hey there!” She greeted, leaning forward to meet their new guest for a hug. Jon couldn’t help a relieved smile when he realized who it was. “I’m so glad you could make it!”   
“You kidding, Lois?” Conner laughed. “I wouldn’t miss a pre-teen birthday party for the world!”

“Conner!” Jon shouted, jogging down the last leg of the hall, ducking under his mom’s arm to swing the door open wider. He wasn’t a pre-teen, and he was sure Conner knew that, but Jon was too relieved to have a distraction to get on his case about it.

Conner’s grin widened at the sight of Jon, and he threw his arms open wide of a hug. “There he is! The birthday boy!”

Jon laughed, jumping into the hug. Conner was only a head taller than him, but he always made Jon feel like a giddy little kid when he visited.

“Whoah, hey, careful of the studs,” Conner laughed, wrapping his arms around Jon’s waist and shaking him back and forth. The spiked studs on the shoulders of his jacket  _ were _ digging into Jon’s arm, but he had the suspicion that Conner was more concerned for his jacket’s safety than Jon’s.

Conner eventually dropped him, and Jon realized that Georgia and Alan were standing in the doorway too, watching their exchange with puzzled looks.

“Hey,” Jon greeted, a little breathless. Conner hugs were similar to his dad’s hugs, in that he hugged with his full strength, but a bit more rough. “Conner, these are my friends, Georgia and Alan.” Jon introduced. “Kathy’s in the bathroom. Guys, this is my brother, Conner.”

Conner flashed them a peace sign, and Alan raised his hand in a nervous wave. Georgia was staring at Jon, face a mix of surprise and skepticism. “You have a brother?”

“Yeah,” Jon confirmed. Had he never mentioned him before?

“Half brother.” Conner specified. “On Clark’s side.”

Lois reached over Jon to ruffle Conner’s hair. “But you’re still a  _ full _ part of this family, and you’re  _ always  _ welcome here.”

Conner ducked his head, rubbing the back of his neck. “Aww, shucks.” He laughed. “Yes ma'am.”

“What’s in the giant box?” Alan questioned, leaning over to better peer out of the doorframe. 

Jon hadn’t noticed it before, but as Conner stepped back, there was assuredly a large cardboard box sitting behind him. It came up to about the man’s waist, and had a large image of several cats sitting on a carpeted cat tree.

Conner grinned. “It’s Jon’s birthday present! I heard you picked up a stray a few weeks ago.”

“ _ No way,” _ Jon breathed, excitedly pushing past Conner to better look at the box. Judging by the size and image, it looked like it was meant for multiple cats. “Conner, you didn’t have to get me anything,” Jon ran his hands over the sides of the box, tearing his gaze away to stare at his brother. “How much did this cost?” 

Jon might’ve done a little research on cat trees, maybe, in his own time. Enough to know that they were expensive. “Don’t worry about that,” Conner waved him off with a wink. “Dad paid for it.”

Lois snorted, turning away. “Well, put it wherever you see fit. I got a cake to get back to.” Jon filed back inside, holding the door for Conner as he carried the box in. Georgia and Alan suffled aside to give him space.

“Wait, so it’s a present from you and your guys’ dad?” Georgia asked.

“No no, Clark didn’t pay for it.” Conner clarified, stepping into the living room as the teenagers filed in behind him. “I meant my  _ other _ dad.”

“He calls our dad Pa.” Jon added.

“Isn’t that what you call your grandpa?” Alan asked.

Jon shrugged, a smile pulling the corners of his face. “You get used to it.”

“Wait,” Georgia interrupted. “You’re half brothers through Clark, but Conner has two dads? How does that—”

“There we go,” Conner proclaimed loudly as he set down the box, speaking over Georgia. “And part two of your gift is that  _ I’m _ going to assemble this monster!” 

Things calmed down after Conner got settled in. Jon and his friends turned back to the TV to keep playing Mario Kart. When his friends remembered that he and Kathy had left to retrieve a cat, Jon carefully explained how Shadow had scratched Kathy’s ankle, so they decided to not bother him. Georgia and Alan accepted the story easily enough, and if Kathy took a bit longer than usual to come out of the bathroom, no one made mention of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I KEEP FORGETTING TO ADD THIS BUT I HAVE A TUMBLR! follow me at https://gaydamian.tumblr.com/ !! I post about my writing sometimes but mostly just reblog pictures of damian and yell about how much i love him in the tags.
> 
> And again, sorry if the end of this chapter feels a bit abrupt, but the next picks it back up from this spot.


	9. "Happy Birthday!" (Part II)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jon continues to turn 15 :)

Olivia finally arrived at the party nearly two hours after everyone else, greeting Jon with a hug in the doorway and a string of apologies for being so late. When they got back to the living room, where everyone was still playing video games, Alan immediately offered up his controller to Olivia.

“Oh no, that’s alright.” Olivia said, putting her hands up. “I’m pretty tired, I’m fine with just watching you guys play.”

“Nope, take it.” Alan insisted, setting the controller at her feet and jumping up, turning to where he set his sketchpad on the table. “I’m gonna be taking requests.”

“You’re gonna draw?” Jon asked. He’d completely forgotten about the sketchbook that Alan had brought.

“I’m gonna draw whatever you guys want.” Alan nodded, pulling a pencil out of the spine and flipping the notebook open, settling into the armrest.

“Draw me!” Georgia immediately piped up, her knees flapping in excitement.

“Nope,” Alan denied, popping the ‘P’. “Birthday boy gets to request first.”

“Oh,” Jon smiled, pulling the first thing that came to mind. “Can you draw Superman?”

“You got it.”

“Laaame.” Georgia booed. “You’re such a fanboy.”

“You should’ve just come with a Superman drawing prepared,” Olivia agreed, picking up the controller and sitting on the floor, leaning against Kathy and Georgia’s legs dangling off the couch.

Mario Kart had started to get boring, so they had switched to Mario Party. It was still early in the game, so it wasn’t too difficult for Olivia to take over where Alan left off. By the time they’d finished a full round of turns, minigame included, Alan had finished his Superman drawing.

“He looks great!” Jon beamed, everyone else voicing their agreements.

“Lemme see!” Conner called from the corner of the room, surrounded in a sea of parts and papers, with a quarter of a cat tree assembled in front of him. Alan pointed his notepad in Conner’s direction. “Eh,” Conner scoffed. “Needs more muscle.”

“Don’t listen to him, he’s mean.” Jon assured his friend.

Conner gasped in mock indignation. “Since when am I mean? I got you a cat tree! _And_ I’m building it!”

After that, Georgia got her request to be drawn, which Alan finished in the time it took for only one turn. The Georgia he drew had a mess of scribbles to represent her hair, and an exaggerated angry face with sharp pointy teeth.

“It’s beautiful,” Georgia sniffed, clutching her chest. 

“Alright, who's next?” 

“Can you draw Batman?” Kathy asked. She’d been quiet since coming out of the bathroom, so Jon was happy to hear her participating. 

“Draw Batman _with_ Superman.” Olivia added on. “Draw Superman carrying Batman, like that one time Georgia—”

“Like I saw that one time!” Georgia interrupted, bouncing in her seat.

Alan took more time on that piece, treating it more seriously than his Georgia portrait, and— as Jon noticed— adding more detail to the muscles. 

“Very nice,” Olivia complimented.

“He wasn’t actually carrying him bridal style when I saw it,” Georgia confessed. “But _God,_ I wish he was.”

“Oh, I gotta see that.” Alan turned the sketchbook to face Conner again, and he laughed loudly. “Man, you got a future in art, kid.”

“Thanks,” Alan said, turning away quickly as he smiled. “Alright, what next?”

“Can I make a request?” Conner asked.

“Sure.”

“Draw Batman and Superman kissing.”

“Conner!” Jon gasped, though everyone else immediately clamored their agreements.

Luckily for Jon’s sanity, Alan decided to draw that request in a silly manner again, finishing quickly. The two men depicted in the image had too-sharp features with large chins, and terrifyingly large hands stroking each other's faces— it looked almost reminiscent of an artstyle you’d see in a bad anime. Everyone loved it. Conner took a picture of it with his phone.

Of course, that’d be the moment that Clark stepped in.

“Hey everyone!” Clark greeted, stepping through the doorway to the living room and throwing his arms wide, shoulder bag swinging off his arm. 

“Hey dad,” Jon waved sheepishly.

“Pa.” Conner saluted from inside his corner of chaos.

“Hey Conner,” Clark greeted, dropping his arms. “Lois said you’d be stopping by. What do you, uh… have goin on back there?”

“Cat tree.”

“Ah. Of course.” Clark turned back to the teenagers. “And what are you crazy kids up to?”

“Just playing video games,” Jon answered quickly. 

“Alan’s doing requests!” Georgia piped up.

“He’s a _really_ good artist.” Olivia stated with conviction, Kathy nodding solemnly beside her.

“Oh, are you? Can I see?”

Jon sunk into his seat, shoulders drawing up to his ears, trying his best to not make it obvious how much he was dying inside. “Here you go, Mr. Kent.”

“... Ah, I see. Is that... Superman?”

“And Batman.” Alan confirmed.

“They’re in love.” Georgia supplied.

Jon peeked over to see his dad stroking his chin, nodding as he looked down at Alan’s sketchpad. “I see.”

“Cake will be ready in fifteen minutes.” Lois stepped out of the kitchen, wrapping her arm around Clark’s neck as he was still bent over and kissing his cheek. “Welcome home. Is that Superman and Batman?” She addressed Alan.

“Yep.”

“Very nice.” Lois complimented. Jon rubbed his face, emotions somewhere between laughing and crying. He hadn’t decided yet.

“Alright, one more before cake.” Alan announced, flipping to a fresh page. “Jon?”

Jon quickly straightened up as the attention shifted to him, his parents filing out of the room. “Me?”

“Last request, it’s your pick.”

“Umm.” Jon surveyed the room for inspiration. Overall, it had been a very fun day— as long as he was still repressing the interaction from earlier with Kathy. Now, she seemed as relaxed as any of them. Both of his parents were home, Conner was in the corner of the room (the structure in front of him somehow looking _less_ like a cat tree than it did ten minutes ago), and all of his friends were sitting in piles around him, perfectly at ease. 

Well, _most_ of his friends.

“How about Superboy and Robin?” Jon ventured. “Since you drew Superman and Batman.”

“Can do.” Alan answered easily, pulling out his phone. “I’ll need to find references, though. You want them kissing? No kissing?”

“N— no kissing!” Jon stuttered, resolutely ignoring Conner’s snort of laughter in the corner. 

“You got it.” Alan confirmed. “Wait, I’m getting different people. Which Superboy did you want?” 

Alan seemed to be taking his last request seriously. When they got called in to set the table, he was still engrossed in his paper, hiding it as they walked past him. Jon, Kathy, Georgia, and Olivia had plenty of hands between them to set up, pulling out the folding table and extra chairs to accommodate eight people. Though Georgia didn’t miss the opportunity to heckle Alan for skipping out on the chore. As they set the table, his dad stood at the counter applying icing to the cake with a rubber spatula, and his mom frantically searched through the cabinets for the number candles and a lighter (turns out they didn’t keep one, due to two of the three of them having laser vision). After finding the appropriate candles, Lois non too discreetly called for Conner’s help with something down the hall, and Jon heard him grumble about leaving his work as he got up. 

Alan joined them all in the kitchen just as Olivia pushed in the last chair, his sketchbook nowhere in sight.

“I’ll show you after we eat,” He promised. Lois walked in a few moments later carrying lit candles, Conner sauntering in behind her and setting his hands on his hips, surveying the tables.

“Alright, which one’s the baby table and which one is the big kid table?”

“You know, even if you’re fifteen now, you’re still technically the youngest one here.” Kathy mused aloud instead of rising to Conner’s bait.

“Yeah, you’ll always be the baby of the group!” Georgia chimed in.

Jon stuck his lower lip out in a pout, pulling out his seat and hunkering down. He _could_ have made a comment about how Conner was only eleven, but he wasn’t in the mood to spill his family’s secret identities over a petty argument today. He was sure Conner could tell, too, by his smug smirk as he pulled out the chair across from Jon. “I’m still the tallest.” He said instead— a rehearsed retort, though usually to a different audience.

“I’m catching up,” Olivia threatened.

Clark interrupted their conversation as he turned around, holding the plate with Jon’s large cake in both hands “Alright, someone hit the lights!”

Everyone sang and cheered as Jon blew out the candles. Surrounded by so many people who he loved and who he knew loved him, he couldn’t help but feel all warm and fuzzy inside. He was incredibly lucky. He could almost forget about the empty space that Damian would’ve filled.

As he ate and laughed with his friends, the time passed by. Conner excused himself first, chocolate smeared across his face as he headed back into the living room to finish his fight with the cat tree. His exit reminded Jon of Alan’s picture, and with everyone’s insistence, he pulled away from the table to fetch his sketchbook, setting it in front of Jon when he walked back in.

His drawing of Superboy and Robin was beautiful. It was still only a sketch, drawn in about a total of fifteen minutes, but it still caused Jon’s breathing to hiccup. 

Alan had drawn Superboy floating above Robin, hands in fists as they faced off against a foe that lay off screen. Robin was in a similar fighting stance, both legs planted firmly on the ground, and with a scowl on his face that was so very _Damian_ that Jon could’ve cried.

He did end up getting misty-eyed. His parents gazed at him full of sympathy as his friends’ screwed up with concern and confusion, but they moved past it with Jon’s quick insistence that Alan was just _really_ good.

It wasn’t always easy to see on Alan’s dark skin, but Jon was sure that he was blushing madly as he carefully ripped out all the pages that he’d drawn on and handed them off to Jon, insisting that he could throw away the ones he didn’t like. Jon eagerly took the papers, and handed them off to his mom and dad to flip through.

With the cake obliterated and Lois pulling out magnets to hang all of Alan’s pictures on the fridge, Jon and his friends eventually migrated back into the living room, finding Conner with a surprisingly well put together structure, just adding the finishing touches. The sight of it reignited Georgia’s wish of tracking down Shadow, but at Jon’s insistence that they leave him alone, she eventually dropped it. 

Over the next hour, his friends started to trickle home, jumping out when they received a message from their parents. By the time it was dark and his last friend had left the apartment, Conner was taking off from the balcony, leaving what he dubbed his 'Masterpiece' in the corner of the living room, a small pile of screws that he had never found a home for sitting on one of the platforms. He'd made Jon promise to send pictures of Shadow using the tree, despite Jon's warnings that the cat was camera avoidant. 

By then it was dark out, and Jon felt too full of cake to patrol. His dad nervously beant down to his eye level to mention that the Green Lantern Corps. had just called about an alien threat approaching earth. He didn't need Jon's permission to save the world, but he was still touched that he asked. His birthday was more or less over, anyways, and when he told his dad as much, he ruffled his hair and kissed his forehead.

His mom offered to watch a movie with him before bed, but Jon confessed to wanting to turn in early for the night. He felt guilty, but Lois agreed easily enough. Jon showered, changed, and had his head on his pillow with the lights off by ten thirty. 

And he stared at the ceiling.

And he thought about how Kathy had kissed his cheek.

Without the distraction of guests and family, the scene replayed over and over and _over_ in his head, as he obsessed over every little detail. He understood that Kathy had a crush on him, by her own admission. He understood her actions perfectly.

He didn’t understand his own.

Why did he panic? Why did he feel so _scared?_ He’d faced off against aliens and bombs and robots and maniacs wielding kryptonite blades, and they didn’t compare to the pit that had formed in his stomach when Kathy had said “ _I like you.”_ Why? _Why_ was he scared? Kathy was his friend. He loved spending time with her, he loved her company, and he thought she was an amazing person. By all means, she was someone that he _should_ be happy to date— even if they were only fifteen. Plenty of kids dated in their school. So why didn’t he like her back?

Did he think she wasn’t attractive?

Jon stuttered over the thought, feeling his heart rate pick up. He’d never thought of her like that, but now… Sure, she was attractive. He felt awful for the thought, but— why should he? _Why_ did thinking that feel… wrong? She must’ve thought that he was attractive.

Jon moaned, rubbing at his face, rolling the palms of his hands over his eyes until he was seeing stars.

 _“Why, why, why, why…”_ he mumbled aloud. He was suddenly glad that his dad had to go off world so suddenly, because he otherwise would have surely picked up on Jon’s turmoil.

But _why?_ _Why_ was he in turmoil? Someone liked him, wasn’t that a compliment? Should he feel… all light and giddy? 

“What’s wrong with me…” Jon murmured to his empty room.

Well, not completely empty. Shadow moved under the bed, signaling that he was awake. The cat slowly crawled out from under his bed, and Jon could feel his gaze on him, but he didn’t take his hands away from his eyes.

He just must not find Kathy attractive, he decided. It was shallow, but— what else could it have been? She just wasn’t his type, plain and simple. Maybe someone more like Georgia, with her tanned skin and short, messy hair? Or Olivia, with her longer hair and features?

Jon pictured each friend in his head, waiting to feel… something. A rush of emotion, an increased heart rate. _An erection?_

Jon groaned aloud, rolling over to bury his entire body in his bed, waiting to be erased from existence, because the only feeling he could experience was _discomfort_ . He was _fifteen_ now— and he knew age and everything that came with it wasn’t some magic switch, but he should have been experiencing _some_ kind of romantic attraction by this point in life. He’d never had any crushes, never any romantic daydreams— at least, not with specific people. He thought about that stuff in abstract. He always attributed his lack of interest in dating _now_ to how busy he was. He was Superboy, and he dealt with things more serious and more deadly than girlfriends.

But _now—_ now he was focusing on it. And he just wanted to feel _something._ For _anyone._ To prove to himself that he could. 

He went through a mental list of female celebrities, but he couldn’t think of anyone past _Beyoncé,_ so he shifted in his position, shoving his pillow against his headboard and pulling out his phone.

_ > Female celebrities _

Aside from the reminder of the horrible race inequality present in Hollywood, Jon was nonplussed at the mix of faces he saw. Most of them were… old. He went back and altered his search.

_ > Young female celebrities _

He switched to images and scrolled. He felt the bed shift as Shadow jumped up, but it didn’t register in his mind as he glanced through all the images, trying to discern who looked attractive. Which, they all did, objectively. But one of them had to jump out to _him._ Some had to look more attractive than others. That’s how this worked, right?

He tapped randomly on an image of a black girl with large, curly hair framing her face, and bright red lipstick. She looked to be around Jon’s age, maybe a little older, and was smiling with her mouth open, her eyes crinkled. Jon imagined himself in the same room as her. He imagined holding her hand. He imagined kissing her.

The same pit as before started to open in his stomach, and his face tightened as he chewed on his lip. Imagining this wasn’t any better than imagining it with his friends.

Maybe he was asexual?

Jon typed it into google, though he already had a pretty solid idea on what the term meant. And reading over the definition, he knew immediately it didn’t sit right with him. Because he did… want… _that_ , with someone. He wanted a relationship. At some point, eventually. And… all the things that came with that.

He tapped a related term, _aromantic_ , and thought that might’ve been closer to what he was experiencing. But as he read more, he dismissed it just as quickly, because he _did_ want a romantic relationship— again, eventually. When he imagined his future, he wanted to be married, he wanted to hold hands and kiss and cuddle with his partner. He wanted what his parents had. So why did imagining any of those things in clearer detail make him feel so sick?

He scrolled a bit, finding that his searches were starting to pull up LGBTQ related articles. Curious, he clicked one, finding it to just be an overview of several identities. Jon had heard most of them, but he’d never actually… looked them up before.

It was interesting.

He hummed aloud, the noise coming out a bit higher pitched and panicky than he had meant for it to sound. He turned off his phone and set it face down on his lap, his body shifting up to sit cross legged. He rested his elbows on his knees and wove his fingers together, holding his hands under his nose as he started wide eyed at the opposite wall.

He didn’t—

He had _never_ considered—

But wouldn’t he have—

Shadow moved at the base of his bed, making Jon jump. He had been staring right past the cat, not seeing him in the darkness of the room. The cat moved up the bed slowly, stopping in front of Jon’s folded knees, where the city light from his window landed. Shadow had his head held lower than normal, situated between his sharp shoulder blades, his tail tip twitching as he watched Jon.

Jon raised a hand to pet Shadow, though he felt shaky. “Shadow…” Jon whispered to the cat, meeting his gaze. He could probably sense his distress. He probably sensed it earlier, too, when Kathy… 

“I’m… I don’t…” Jon’s voice sounded pathetic to his own ears, weak and shaky. He had no idea what he was even trying to say to the cat. He couldn’t formulate a coherent _thought_ , let alone a sentence.

Besides, it shouldn't even be that big of a deal, right? Even if it turned out that he was...

Jon picked his phone back up again, frantically unlocking it and opening an incognito tab.

_ > Am I gay quiz _

Jon scrolled through the results, tapping one at random. He only got a few questions in before deciding to back out and try a different quiz. All the questions seemed really… weird. He had the same issue with the second. And with the third, but he decided to try to power through. Most of the questions were different ways of saying ‘are you attracted to the same gender’, and even though that’s what Jon should have expected, it frustrated him, because he… he…

That’s what he was trying to ask the internet, instead of asking himself.

He stared at the quiz.

 _Have you ever felt attracted to a friend of the same gender?_ What did that even _mean?_ Did he appreciate the way they looked? Their company?

He was almost finished, but he decided to end the quiz early— not because he was scared of his result or anything, he told himself resolutely, but because he didn’t like it. 

_ > How do you know youre gay _

He tapped the first article and devoured it with rapt attention, his body almost completely doubled over his phone. It wasn’t written like the articles his teachers made him read for school— it flowed naturally, in a conversational and supportive tone, covering questions about questioning (it even mentioned quizzes as a common starting point), certainty, coming out, health, and support.

_Ultimately, the only person who gets to label your identity is you._

Jon blinked, and teardrops splattered across his screen. He quickly rubbed them off on his blanket, sniffing and rubbing at his eyes with his other hand.

 _“Mmew,”_ Shadow meowed quietly. And Jon reached forward to pet him again after he wiped his eyes. He was still crying, but he turned his attention back to his phone.

> _Gay people_

He switched over to images and was immediately bombarded with bright colors and rainbows, people of all shapes and colors smiling and celebrating, hugging and kissing. Even though his tears were still flowing, he couldn’t help the tight smile spreading across his face as he scrolled through the images. They all looked so _happy._ So _free_ , in celebrating who they were. 

So _proud._

Jon stopped on an image of two men side by side, arms wrapped around each other's shoulders. One of them was smiling at the camera, and the other had his face pressed into his partner’s cheek in a kiss. Jon imagined himself in place of either of them, and he felt warm all over. He imagined holding hands with Alan, and he felt jittery. He imagined kissing Damian’s cheek, and he felt—

 _Wow._ He felt so many things, all at once, his phone fell out of his hand, landing face up to illuminate the room above him, and he made a choking noise. He tried to silence himself, knowing that his mom was sleeping just across the hall with two closed doors between them, but it felt like something had _snapped_ inside of him all of a sudden and he was completely bawling, pulling his knees up to his chest and burying his face in them. 

He was _immensely_ glad that his dad wasn’t home tonight. He couldn’t even rationalize why he was crying to himself, much less a concerned Clark who would no doubt be barging in at this point.

“ _Mmrraa.”_ Shadow meowed, voice sounding almost like a whine, though Jon wasn’t really listening all that clearly. 

How could he, when he could barely _breathe._ Every inhale he took was a gasp that shook violently and in spurts, and every exhale was a barely concealed whine that tensed his entire body, his toes curling up under the blankets that he was trying to muffle himself in.

_“Mraaww."_

It was just all too much. The embarrassment of turning down Kathy and spending the rest of his birthday with this awkward air between them, the uncertainty of questioning, the awkwardness of fantasising about kissing his friends, friends who he’d been through _everything_ with and would do _anything_ for, friends who couldn’t even make it to his birthday party, friends who might not even _be alive—_

Jon flinched away as he felt claws dig into his arms that had wrapped around his head, pulling at his hair. Shadow was pushing his head forcefully between Jon’s legs and his chest, paws wriggling in until Jon loosened up. Having successfully forced him out of the fetal position, Shadow climbed into the space between Jon’s torso and knees. Jon was still breathing heavily, breaths hiccuping in his chest. He pet Shadow as the cat stood stiffly against his chest, making his strange growl-purr noise.

“Shadow, I’m— Thank you—” Jon sniffed, trying to keep his voice a whisper. His emotions were running too high for him to even _try_ to check on his mom’s heartbeat to make sure she was still sleeping, so he just had to hope. “I’m sorry I’m keeping you up,” He apologized between sniffs to the cat, wrapping his arms around him and burying his snot and tear streaked face into his back. The cat didn’t move, letting Jon hold him as he continued to cry.

“I’m just— I’m—” Jon took a deep, shaking breath. “I don’t even know why I’m crying,” He admitted, laughing weakly. “It’s not like… Even if I was, I know my parents love me. My parents love me,” He repeated, telling it to himself as much as he was telling it to Shadow. “They— I mean, Conner is… Conner’s dating Tim, so…” 

Clark and Conner never fully got along, but that was more for the _evil clone_ reasons than it was for the _dating a guy_ reasons. Right? _Wasn’t it?_

“My parents love me.” Jon repeated again, holding Shadow close. “They’ll love me no matter what, even if… if I’m…” Jon trailed off, his breath picking up again.

 _“Mrra-raaw?”_ Shadow chirped softly.

“If I’m… gay.”

Hearing the confession out loud prompted another round of sobs out of Jon, gradually dampening Shadow’s fur as he clung to him. All through the ordeal, the cat stood patiently and silently, allowing himself to be held and cried into.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for 1.5k hits!! I've been basing updates based on arbitrary 'when I reach x views' but they've going up super quickly recently, I'm only halfway done w the next (and maybe final dunno yet) chapter at the time of posting this.
> 
> Anyways, I know that a sexuality crisis wasn't what anyone signed up for when you went into this fic, but I hope it didn't feel shoe-horned in! Because man I was 15 once and let me tell you. woof. Even though Jon is in a safe situation with a support system and family who loves him, coming to grips with being non-het can still be a rough trip. Luckily, talking to animals is a perfectly healthy coping mechanism that has absolutely no consequences :)


	10. “You’re not a normal cat, are you?”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something might be weird about Shadow :)

Jon woke up the next morning without Shadow. Which, really, was normal. What was  _ abnormal _ was last night, when Jon had cried and sobbed while clutching Shadow like he was some kind of stuffed animal, all up until he fell asleep. He felt gross.

It was already eleven when he checked his phone, quickly closing all the tabs from the rabbithole he’d fallen into last night. He pulled himself out of bed, realizing that his door was cracked open— his mom must’ve opened it for Shadow earlier. He could hear her working in the kitchen now.

Jon quietly slunk through the hall, dipping into the bathroom to shower before anything else. His face didn’t have any visible traces of crying, but he wanted to be safe. And it helped him feel less gross. 

After showering and slipping into a fresh change of clothes, Jon finally felt brave enough to walk into the kitchen, where his mom was working on her laptop.

“Good morning,” She greeted without looking up, taking a sip from her coffee cup. “You certainly slept in. Have a good time yesterday?”

“Of course!” Jon answered, trying to not let it sound forceful. He couldn’t help feeling a little on edge, like if Lois looked up, she’d be able to tell that something about him had changed. “Did dad come home yet?”

“No, not yet.” Jon walked past the table, pulling a box of cereal off from on top of the fridge. “He spent the night at the Watchtower. Oh, and aliens aren’t going to invade the Earth.”

“That’s good.” Jon commented, pouring his breakfast.  _ This is good, _ he told himself. The familiar banter with his mom was relaxing, like nothing really  _ had _ changed.

“He told me he just had to pick up something before he came home.” Lois continued. Jon pulled up a seat next to her. 

“Any idea what?”

Lois smirked into her drink. “ _ Well—” _

There was a slap, crinkle, and crashing noise, all within a moment of each other. Jon turned in his seat as Lois sighed exasperatedly. 

“ _ Shadow, _ stop it.” Lois pushed her chair back as Jon was still processing the scene. Shadow was standing over a piece of paper that he must’ve knocked off of the fridge, the magnet lying askew a few feet away. He was standing over it, holding eye contact with Jon, tail lashing back and forth.

“What happened?” Jon asked. 

“Shadow’s been knocking Alan’s picture’s off of the fridge all morning.” Lois sighed, pushing the cat off of the paper and picking it and the magnet back up. “I don’t know what it is. Maybe he just likes the noise they make.”

The paper had landed face down before, but as Lois fixed it back to the fridge, Jon noticed it was the Superboy and Robin picture that Alan had drawn for him. His chest clenched involuntarily at the sight of it.

_ “Mmrraaow!” _ Shadow called out.

Lois slid the paper up higher. “I might move into my room to work for a while, since this cat is such a distraction.”

“Has he used his new tree yet?” Jon asked, remembering Conner’s present.

“I don’t think he’s even looked at it,” Lois stage whispered as she turned back to the table, cupping her hand around her mouth. “Don’t tell Conner.”

Jon chuckled lightly. “I’m sure he’ll use it eventually.”

Lois shut her laptop and picked it up, ruffling Jon’s hair and pressing a kiss into his forehead. “Only you could have so much patience for that animal. I think your old age has made you wise.”

Jon laughed and pushed her away. “Alright, I get it. Love you.”

“Love you too, sweetie.” Lois stepped out of the room, and Jon listened to her walk all the way to her room, closing the door with a click.

Jon sighed, setting his elbows on the table as he hunched over his cereal.  _ Should I tell her? Dad? No, I should wait until I’m certain— _

“ _ Wrraaoww!” _ Jon turned in his seat. Shadow was sitting facing up at the fridge, staring at Alan’s drawings. “ _ Wwraaa!” _

“Shadow,” Jon started, but didn’t finish the thought in time. The cat leaped into the air again, gaining an impressive height to bat out at the paper, pulling it down and off of the fridge again. Jon sighed, the paper catching in the air and sliding under the table. “Come on. You won’t play with any of the toys I bought, but you’ll attack paper stuck on the fridge?” He complained as he pushed out his chair, ducking under the table to pick up the paper again.

He grabbed it and picked himself back up, turning the paper over. It was the same picture of Superboy and Robin that had been knocked down earlier.  _ “Mmmraa!!” _

“Shadow,  _ no. _ ” Jon spoke sternly, turning the paper around to face the cat and pointing at it. “This is not a toy.  _ Especially _ this one, ok?”

“ _ Mrreeaw!” _

Jon picked up the magnet and placed the picture of him and Damian on the side of the fridge. “You can knock down the other ones as much as you want, really, I don’t care.” He confessed. “But that one’s my favorite. Ok?”

Jon finished his task and looked back at Shadow, who had lowered his head between his shoulders and let out a low growl. Jon signed and returned to his cereal at the table. It was already starting to go soggy.

He had much bigger things to worry about than Shadow knocking things off of the fridge. Like his blossoming sexuality crisis. Or his friend who’d been missing for an entire month of summer. Jon leaned his face into his left hand, elbow resting on the table, and continued to shovel Cheerios into his mouth with the other. 

He finished his breakfast and dumped the excess milk into the sink, pondering if he should go on patrol today when he heard a crash and fluttering of paper that was quickly becoming familiar. 

Jon turned around to pick up the paper, expecting to find Shadow in the same position as earlier— but instead, Shadow was on the counter, right where the edge met the fridge. He was staring at Jon, and when he realized he had his attention, the vocalizing started again.

“Shadow,  _ no! _ ” Jon scolded, storming forward. “Get off the counter! Why—”

He jerked to a stop as Shadow jumped down, Jon’s foot hovering over his and Damian’s faces. The picture had landed face up this time.

Jon pulled his foot back, but Shadow stepped forward, placing both of his front paws on the image.  _ “Mrraaw!” _

“Shadow, get off of that!” Jon squatted down, pushing the cat off of the image. “Why— Why do you keep messing up this one?”

“ _ Mrraaaaoww!!” _ Shadow meowed loudly, forcibly. 

Jon rubbed his eyes. Maybe— maybe it just had cake smudged on it, or something. Some kind of smell that made it attractive to Shadow. He didn’t know. “Shadow,  _ please _ stop messing with this.” Why couldn’t he knock down the one of Superman and Batman kissing instead? Jon would’ve been fine with an excuse to throw that one away. 

_ “Mmmraaoow!!”  _ Jon stared at the fridge’s surface longly. He really wanted to leave the image of him and Damian up, but… 

“ _ Fine, _ ” Jon sighed, standing up. “Fine! It’s going on top of the fridge.”

“ _ Wrrrooww!” _ Shadow cried as Jon slid it away, rearranging the cereal boxes to stand on top of it.

“And if you knock down the cereal to get to it and spill it everywhere,” Jon turned back to face the cat, pointing at him threateningly and continuing in a quieter tone. “I’ll tell mom that I never got you neutered.” 

Shadow drew his lips back in a snarl and spat at him.

Before Jon could make a retort, he heard the patio door slide open as his dad announced his arrival. “I’m home! Jon?”

Jon straightened up, deciding to ignore Shadow. “I’m here, dad!” he called, making his way to the living room. 

“I have someone with me,” Clark sang, grin evident in his voice. “Someone who wants to wish you a happy belated birthday.”

Jon peaked around the door frame, only just starting to formulate the thought of  _ Who could dad have brought? _ When he was interrupted by an overexcited white lab crashing into his chest, knocking his butt onto the floor, and promptly covering his face with licks.

“ _ Ahh— _ Krypo!” Jon laughed, trying to unsuccessfully shield his face. The dog’s entire body was shaking with the ferocity of his tail wagging. Jon rubbed his ears, using the hold to simultaneously pull the dog’s face away from his own.

Krypto’s tail slowed into a steadier wag, his tong loling as he smiled dopily. Jon glanced up to see his dad standing over them in the doorframe, still in his Superman outfit. “Where was he?” Jon asked, grinning widely.

Clark shrugged. “I picked him up at the Fortress of Solitude after I got a notification that someone had entered. I guess you finally wrapped up your latest case, huh big guy?”

Krypto barked, and Jon laughed again. He missed having the dog around. 

“Is that barking I hear?” Lois reappeared in the other entrance to the kitchen, stepping into the room. “There he is! Krypto!” The lab finally leaped off of Jon to race over to Lois’ side, pushing into her legs as she scratched at his side. “I thought that was a strange noise for Shadow,” she laughed.

“Oh, right!” Jon scrambled up. “Krypto, you need to meet Shadow!”

Krypto pulled his adoring gaze away from Lois’ face to cock his head curiously at Jon, who was circling the kitchen table. “He was here just— there you are,”

He was half expecting Shadow to have retreated back to Jon’s room, like he did during his birthday party, but the cat had barely moved. He was sitting with his back against the fridge, tail curled around his paws and twitching as he carefully watched Krypto. He growled as Jon hoisted him up, but didn’t lash out.

Jon walked to the opposite side of the kitchen and plopped the cat down in front of Krypto, smiling widely. “Here you go! This is Shadow, your new little brother. Shadow, Krypto.”

“Careful sweetie,” His mother warned as Krypto stepped forward, nose twitching inquisitively as he sniffed.

“Krypto won’t hurt him.” Jon stated confidently. His tail hadn’t even stopped wagging since he came into the apartment.

Clark laughed, bringing himself farther into the room to watch the two animals. “I don’t think Shadow’s the one in danger of getting hurt.”

Krypto, of course, had the same impenetrable skin as Jon and his dad, so he wasn’t really worried about that either. The worst case scenario as Jon saw it was Shadow swiping at Krypto and racing away. Honestly, the dog might end up more scared of Shadow than the other way around.

Shadow didn’t look furious, for the time being. Definitely weary, with his pelt puffing up a bit, and his limbs stiff, prepared to run or lash out at a moment’s notice. Krypto seemed to pick up on his hesitance, and inched forward slowly, keeping his head and still steadily wagging tail low as he continued to loudly sniff.

Suddenly, and unexpectedly, Krypto froze in his tracks, one paw off the ground. Even his tail stopped mid swing, askew to the left. The dog blinked, and after a moment where Jon wasn’t sure if he should say something, he dropped his paw and whined, loud and long.

“Uh,” Jon stuttered, just as his dad started to push past him.

“Krypto, what—”

The dog interrupted Clark with a sharp bark, staring intently at Shadow. The noise was so different than his happy barks from just a few minutes earlier that it made everyone jump— Shadow included. The cat’s pelt was fully spiked out now, and he drew his lips back in a loud hiss. 

Krypto backed up immediately, giving the cat space. He looked around the room, almost frantically, before his gaze locked onto Clark’s. He barked again. 

“Krypto, what’s gotten into you?” Clark asked, genuinely concerned. 

Krypto barked again, looking back at Shadow. Jon would’ve expected to see the cat bolting away by now, but— miraculously— he was still in the same spot Jon had set him down in. And even  _ more _ strange— his pelt was starting to lie flat, his head tilting in the same way Krypto’s had earlier.

Krypto barked repeatedly at Shadow, leaning his body backwards, his front paws splaying out in front of him, but not in the ‘tail in the air’ pose that meant he wanted to play. One of his paws lifted up and landed on the ground again, his claws clicking against the linoleum. 

“Krypto, quiet!” Lois scolded, stepping forward to grab his collar. The action seemed to spur everyone else into movement, Clark stepping closer to the dog as well, and Jon scooping up the cat again, holding him up and away from Krypto.

“I don’t know why he’s doing this,” Clark fretted, rubbing his palm on the dogs head. “I thought he was good with cats! He’s friends with Streaky.”

“Actually, I think he and Streaky had a falling out,” Jon interjected, petting Shadow assuredly. His pelt was still a little ruffled, but his green eyes remained trained intently on Krypto.

“ _ What? _ ” Lois balked, face screwing up in confusion. 

Shadow suddenly thrashed in Jon’s grip, and taken by surprise, Jon dropped him. Shadow expertly leaped from the floor to the counter, and then to the top of the fridge. Jon shouted wordlessly as the black cat shouldered the cereal boxes away, one falling flat on the fridge, but the other tipping over the front, crashing onto the floor and spilling its contents everywhere.

Everyone took a collective step back, avoiding the hundreds of tiny projectiles sliding over the floor. In the middle of all the chaos, the paper that Shadow had been obsessing over fluttered down almost peacefully, landing face up amidst the scattered Cheerios. 

Krypto’s ears perked up, his gaze on the drawing.

_ “Wrraaaaww!!” _

“Shadow—!” Jon cried, starting forward to pick up the paper. Krypto reached it first, jerking suddenly out of Lois’ grip, snatching up the paper in his jaws. “ _ Krypto! _ ” Jon’s attention quickly switched targets. 

He reached out to grab the dog, but he jumped nimbly out of Jon’s reach, letting out a muffled bark from around the paper in his mouth. “Krypto, drop that!” Clark scolded, voice overlapping with Lois fretting over the mess on the floor.

Clark stepped forward to grab Krypto, and the dog leaped away again— this time staying in the air, hovering out of Clark’s reach.

“Krypto, give it!” Jon shouted, voice becoming shrill. He could see his saliva starting to darken the paper. He lunged for the dog, and Krypto flew sharply out of the room. Jon chased after him, shoes carelessly crunching the cereal to dust as he shoved past his parents to get to the dog. “ _ You’re going to ruin it!” _

He turned the corner into the living room where Krypto was hovering in place, drawing still in his mouth. Clark appeared behind Jon, shouting an order at the dog. “Krypto, down!”

Krypto slowly lowered himself until all four paws were on the floor again. His tail was tucked back between his legs, and his floppy ears pinned back. He whined, loud and long, head nodding to shake the paper gently.

Jon stormed forward. “Krypto, drop it.”

He held his hand out expectantly in front of the dog, but Krypto angled his head away, holding it out of reach. He whined again.

“Jon,” His father’s voice piped up behind him. “I think—”

“I said  _ drop it! _ ” Jon lurched forward, grabbing onto the paper.

Krypto tried to jerk back again, and the paper tore. There wasn’t even much resistance or noise to it— it was already decently soaked through from being held in Krypto’s mouth. Jon stared down, dismayed at the bisected image of his and Damian’s waists in his hands.

“Jon?”

He gripped his hands into fists, crumbling up the broken image. To his horror, he could feel his face heating up quickly, his eyes stinging. He spun around wordlessly and marched quickly past his parents with his head down, dodging away from their concerned grips. He kept his head low until he was back in his room, shutting the door behind him and promptly collapsing against it, breathing heavily with tears scorching down his face.

Wasn’t he just in this scene?

He framed his arms over his knees, keeping his back pressed against the door and choked out a sob, angrily wiping away at his face. He could hear his dad reprimanding Kypro in the living room as his mom hurried down the hallway, eventually knocking at his door.

“Jon, sweetie? Are you ok?”

“Fine,” Jon choked out. He couldn’t sound less fine if he tried.

Lois tried opening the door, but Jon’s weight against it stopped her. “Can I come in?”

“Not… not right now,” Jon answered, sniffling loudly. “Please.”

He could hear her nails rub against the door, and he imagined her placing her palm against it gently. “Alright sweetie,” She agreed, voice still heavy with concern. “It’s alright, ok? We’ll be here when you want to talk.”

“Ok.” Jon agreed, just wishing that she’d  _ leave  _ already.

Not even a moment later, Lois was replaced by Clark, knocking on his door in a similar fashion. “Jon? Are you ok?”

Jon breathed out through gritted teeth, running his hands up the side of his head. “I’m  _ fine, _ dad.”

He could hear his mom murmur to his dad that he wanted to be left alone, shooting down all of Clark’s  _ but’s— _ and  _ he needs— _

“Ok, we’ll give you space,” His dad finally acquiesced, leaning up to the door to speak through it. “I kicked Krypto out of the house, just so you know.”

“Oh. Ok.” Jon hesitated, fighting with wanting to be left alone and the sudden weight on his conscience. “It— it wasn’t his fault,” he stuttered out quickly, before his dad could leave.

Clark sighed, knuckles rubbing against the door. “I know, Jon.”

His dad hesitated for a few more moments before following after Lois.

Jon sighed, and buried his head into his hands, rubbing angrily at his face. He was so  _ stupid. _ Of course he had to go and cause a scene, and now Krypto was in trouble, kicked out just minutes after coming home.

He  _ was _ mad at the dog, still. He couldn’t fathom why he’d bark at Shadow like that, or— or ruin Jon’s picture.

_ God, that  _ stupid  _ picture. _

He didn’t even know why he had latched onto it so much, in such a short time. It wasn’t like it was all he had left of his friend— he  _ had _ pictures of Damian. Real pictures. Not many, sure, because he wasn’t big on selfies, but he had a few. Enough to tide him over until he returned.

But when  _ would _ he return? It had already been a month. Dick hadn’t texted him  _ once _ . And Jon missed his friend. He missed him so,  _ so much. _ Like something had been carved out of him. Like a shard of kryptonite embedded in his chest.

“I just wish that you were here,” Jon whispered to his empty room.

There was a soft pawing at his door, claws running lightly over the wood. Jon breathed in through his nose in a quiet sigh, picking himself up as he turned to open the door. He held it just wide enough for the small black shape to slip in, and quickly shut it behind him again.

“Hey, Shadow.” Jon greeted, voice betraying his weariness. “I’m sorry about all the noise earlier.” He turned and walked to his bed, collapsing on it with another sigh. “But, I mean. A lot of it was your fault, too.”

“ _ Mrrpph,” _

Jon peaked up, getting a good look at the cat for the first time since he walked in. He was sitting primly in the center of the room, holding a torn paper in his jaws.

The other half of the torn paper that Jon had stuffed in his pocket. “You…” Jon quickly swung his legs back over his bed, moving to a sitting position, leaning over his frame. “Why do you have that?”

Shadow picked himself up and walked closer to the bed, stopping a few feet in front of Jon’s shoes. The paper had torn horizontally, cutting the figures in half. So while Jon had gotten the side with the feet, Krypto— or Shadow, now— had the piece with the torso and heads. Jon could see them clearly around Shadow’s small muzzle. The cat ducked his head and laid down the piece of paper between them with delicate care, holding it down with one paw, partially obscuring Superboy’s figure.

Jon was a little weirded out. Actually, a  _ lot _ weirded out. His jaw was hanging open, mouth going drier by the second. And Shadow’s usual  _ burning intense _ gaze didn’t help.

“Shadow, you…” Jon trailed off, staring at the cat. He swallowed. “You’re not a normal cat, are you?”

Shadow, holding eye contact with Jon, slowly and deliberately moved his head back and forth. Not in the way an animal would shake their head to dry off, but in the way a  _ person _ would shake their head  _ no _ .

In the living room, he heard his dad’s phone ring, and maybe he was just desperate for a distraction from the sudden ice in his veins, but he listened in a little closer as he answered it.

_ “Bruce?” _ Clark answered, sounding a little bewildered.  _ “Is everything alright? You never call my—” _

_ “Clark,”  _ Bruce growled over the line, sounding a lot like Batman and nothing like a man who had a full night's rest _. “I need you to fly your ass over here and get your damn dog.” _

_ “What? Krypto?” _

_ “He found his way into the damn manor, and all his barking riled up Ace and Titus.” _

When he listened for it, Jon could hear the barking and howling of multiple dogs over the line.  _ “I— I’m sorry, he’s been acting up today. I’ll be right over.” _

Clark hung up, and started explaining the conversation to Lois. Jon turned them out, focusing on the animal sitting in front of him again. Or… whatever he was.

Jon opened his mouth, breath catching in his throat. Shadow leaned forward, paw sliding the piece of paper forward, closer to Jon.

The paper with Damian’s face on it.

“D… do you know where Damian is?” Jon breathed, for once meeting Shadow’s gaze with the same intensity. 

In the same slow and deliberate motion as before, Shadow nodded, his green eyes boring holes into Jon’s chest.

And then it clicked.

“Are…  _ you  _ Damian?”

Shadow stood up, tail ramrod straight. “ _ Mrruuaaoo!!” _

Jon’s eyes were as wide as saucers, and he was fairly certain he had stopped breathing. “Is— Is that a yes?” He stuttered. “Meow again if you’re Damian.”

_ “Wrraao!” _

Well, that could be a coincidence. “Meow twice if you’re Damian.”

“ _ Mrrroww-oow.” _

Shadow did meow a _ lot. _ “Hiss if you’re Damian.”

That noise came easily, Shadow’s fur already spiked. He arched his back and spat at Jon, ears flat against his skull.

_ But still… _ “S—stand on your hind legs if you’re Damian.”

And though he couldn’t process it, Jon swore that he saw the cat  _ roll its eyes. _ And even more unbelievable, he lifted the front of his body up, balancing on his back two paws.

Jon stared. He breathed in deeply through his nose, and held it.

Then, he stood up abruptly, crossing his room in three long strides, and slipped out of it, closing the door behind him, locking Damian inside.

_ Damian. _

Almost immediately after the door clicked shut the yowling began, thuds and scratches banging his door from the inside. He didn’t much care, though, because he was  _ freaking the fuck out. _

Jon put his back to it and slid down in much the same fashion he did before, but now on the outside. He finally exhaled, his hands raising to frame his face, hovering in the air.

The noise quickly attracted his mom. “Jon? Are you ready to talk? Why—” Jon only looked up when he saw his mom’s shoes enter his field of vision. She was looking down at him and past his door, eyebrows laced with concern. “Why is Shadow yelling so much? What upset him  _ this  _ time?”

Jon might’ve appreciated his mom’s attempt at humour were he not in the middle of a panic attack. “It’s— it’s Damian.”

Lois’ attention quickly shifted back to Jon, features already softening in misunderstanding. “What?”

“Shadow.” Jon clarified. His throat was extremely dry, so he swallowed. “The cat. It’s Damian.”

“Shadow… is Damian?”

Jon could only nod, staring hopelessly up at his mom.

Lois blinked, features flaring out in shock, before melting away into a motherly concern. She crouched down to meet Jon on his level. "Sweetie," she started, gently running small circles into his shoulder. "Honey, that's not-" and then that softness melted away too, replaced by the realization about how irregular their lives were, and how her husband was an alien and her son was a half alien, and how her pseudo-son was a  _ clone _ of her husband mixed with genetic material from his arch nemesis, and while her son’s missing friend turning out to be the street cat they adopted a month ago was weird, when put in perspective, weirder things  _ have happened _ to them. "Are you sure?" She asked instead, voice tight.

Jon could only nod, his throat closed up.

Lois' face paled.

Shadow continued to yowl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ONE MORE CHAPTER TO GO!! Put your hands up if you guessed that KRYPTO would be the first character to realize that Shadow is Damian!!! //crickets 
> 
> Anyways thanks for stickin with this really stupid story for this long yall, look forward to some actual conscious interaction between Damian and Jon for the finale. Again, hmu on tumblr @gaydamian (peace sign emoji)


	11. "Well, this is awkward."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Kents send Damian home :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey remember how I said this was the last chapter? I lied I decided it flowed better as 2 chapters, even if that left them a bit short. Maybe it'll trick you into thinking there's more content though, I dunno.

Jon wasn’t sure where his life was exactly  _ at, _ at the moment. He had a friend who didn’t even know his secret identity kiss him, prompting a crisis over his sexuality, and now, it turned out that his pet cat was his missing friend. And that was all just within the last 24 hours.

Well, at least they’d found him.

Lois was quick to usher Jon back to his feet and open the door to his room that he’d locked Damian in, in his panic. Lois made the boy-turned-cat go through the same motions that Jon had earlier ( _ “Spin clockwise if you’re really Damian.” _ ), much to his obvious charge in. 

After that point, Clark arrived back home with Krypto in tow, and Lois left to meet him in the living room to break the news. Irrationally scared to be left alone in the same room as cat Damian, Jon followed her, hanging back in the doorway, watching his dad's expression.

It went about as well as it could have. 

Frazzled, Clark started rummaging haphazardly around the room for his phone to call Bruce back. Jon mentioned having Dick’s phone number, but Lois shut him down quickly, insisting that they needed to call Damian’s father first. Krypto ended up being the one to find Clark’s phone, sitting on the edge of the table. Clark picked it up and absently thanked the dog. He also apologized for yelling at him, rubbing his ears and calling him a good boy. He decided that Krypto deserved a treat, wondering aloud if they had any Milk Bones left— Lois told him sharply to quit stalling. Clark nodded, looking terrified as tapped the contact and brought the phone up to his ear. Jon didn’t envy him.

“Jon, sweetie,” Lois put her hand on his shoulder and led him out of the kitchen just as his dad started talking.

“Hey, Bruce! So, uh— Yeah, I know I just saw you, but— You see—”

“Why don’t you keep—  _ Damian  _ company until his father gets here?” Lois suggested to Jon, in that motherly this-isn’t-actually-a-suggestion way. She was already leading Jon back to his room, where Damian had stayed while Jon and his mom rushed out to see Clark.  _ Despite _ him leaving the door open this time.

“ _ Uhm. _ ” Jon eloquently stated.

“ _ Jon, _ ” Lois whispered sternly in his ear. “Damian is your friend, and this is a very… strange, undoubtedly traumatizing experience. Just… be there for him? Maybe talk to him?”

Talking to Shadow had never been a problem for Jon. He’d done it almost every day. He realized, with a sinking feeling, that all those times he had talked back was undoubtedly Damian trying to communicate with him.

Lois turned Jon into his room, standing in the doorway with her hands on both his shoulders. Damian was sitting in the center of Jon’s bed, tail curled around his paws, glaring. 

“Hey, Damian,” Lois greeted, voice extra sweet to cover up the weirdness of the whole situation. “Clark is talking to your father now, he’ll be by to pick you up soon, alright?”

“ _ Mrrrrr.” _

“And, um.” Lois fidgeted, and Jon got the distinct impression he was being held in front of her as a shield. “Sorry for keeping you here so long. I’m sure your father will figure out… something.” She released Jon, patting his shoulders briskly. “Okay.” With that, she turned and walked away, leaving Jon alone in the room.

With Damian.

With Damian, who was a cat.

Damian, who was a cat Jon had named Shadow and tried to cuddle with every night.

Jon clicked his tongue, looking around his room, anywhere but at the bed. He rocked back on his heels, blowing out his cheeks and releasing the air slowly. 

“Sooooooo…”

_ “Rrrrrr.” _

Jon risked glancing up to the small animal on his bed. His ears had flattened, eyes narrowing. “... I’m— uh. I’m glad you’re alright?”

“ _ Grrrwwwwww…”  _ Damian growled lowly. Jon exhaled through his nose in a partial laugh.  _ This is so weird. _ Finally, he found the strength to move forward. 

He sat down next to Damian on his bed awkwardly, the mattress shifting under his weight and causing Damian to reposition himself. Jon put his hands on his knees and stared at them.

Silence stretched between them.

“... Sooo—” Jon started, again, but cut himself off as he heard footsteps jogging down the hall.

Clark appeared around the corner, peering through the door frame. “Hey! So, uh, Bruce is on his way over. He’s been… made aware of the situation. Uh, Damian.” Clark nodded awkwardly. Damian glared at him.

Clark reached into the room, pulling the door mostly closed. “I’ll just... be in the living room. Call if you need anything.”

He left the door open a crack, and left as quick as he came. Jon chuckled. “Guess it’s a little awkward, huh?”   
Damian growled again. 

Jon sighed. “I’m sorry. I mean… I can’t imagine how many times you must’ve tried to communicate with us, and we…  _ I _ was too dumb to see it.” He shifted, leaning back on his hands. “I… I get it if you don’t wanna see each other for a while, after this. When your dad figures out how to… fix you.” Jon was quiet for a little while, staring at his ceiling as his mind turned. Damian was silent beside him. “I don’t want… I don’t want things to be awkward, after this. I want us to keep being friends, you know? Even if that means you need a break— I get it..”

The bed shifted, drawing Jon’s eyes down. A black paw gently landed on his lap, followed by another as Damian slowly crawled on top of him. Jon stilled, unsure what to do as the cat—  _ Damian— _ slowly crouched into his lap, folding his front paws underneath himself. 

Hesitantly, Jon pulled his hand out and slowly ran it down his back. A quiet purr started to rumble from the creature on his lap.

Jon laughed quietly. “Are you  _ sure _ you’re still Damian?” 

As he raised his hand to Damian’s head again, he turned and bit Jon’s finger. “ _ Ow! _ ” 

Jon pulled back, wincing, before a smile cracked through his features and he laughed. He rested his hand on Damian’s back, idly scratching him as he felt the tension drain from his shoulders.

“Alright, sure, I guess I deserved that.” he hummed. “You know, even though I’m sure it sucked for you, I really did enjoy having you as my cat. Is that weird? That’s probably weird.”   
“ _ Rrrrrr.” _

“What I  _ meant _ is that…” Jon motioned vaguely with the hand that wasn’t petting Damian. “I… I liked having you around. It took the edge off of missing you, which is kinda ironic, I guess. And— hey, that means you didn’t end up missing my birthday after all!” Jon smiled at the same time his heart skipped a beat, his body reacting before his mind could properly articulate the thought suddenly crossing his mind. “My—” He stuttered, body tensing and hand freezing.

_ My birthday. _

_ The  _ night of _ my birthday. _

_ Last night. _

_ When I…  _

“I…” Jon choked, his body suddenly feeling too hot and too cold, head feeling dizzy.  _ That was  _ Damian. Damian was there the whole time, witnessing Jon’s entire meltdown, watching his entire process, from when Kathy kissed him to all the weird noises he’d made while looking up pictures of young attractive people, processing an identity that he wasn’t even sure he  _ was _ yet.

He’d unwittingly already come out of the closet to Damian.  _ Damian _ was the first person he’d told that he was questioning his sexuality, and he hadn’t even realized it at the time.

“ _ Mrrrraaaww.” _

“I— uh—” He felt hot and embarrassed, and if that wasn’t enough, the corners of his eyes were starting to sting again. Damian was looking straight at him now, his familiar green eyes wide in a feline expression that Jon couldn’t read. He leaned back, quickly scrubbing at his face. “I’m sorry, I— I didn’t know— last night…”  _ What? _ Last night was what? There was no way he could play that off as a joke, or—

Damian pushed his head firmly against Jon, shoving his hands out of his face. Jon stared at him, scared and vulnerable. He couldn’t say anything. What did Damian think of him? Was he disgusted? Did he not want to be friends anymore…?

Jon held his hands in front of him, hovering, unsure what to do. Damian carefully nudged one, turning it in the air so that Jon’s palm was facing him. Delicately, he leaned in and nuzzled against it, sandpaper tongue darting out to lick a smudged tear off of Jon’s thumb.

Jon near immediately lost his vision, his eyes going watery. He breathed in sharply, and reached forward, gathering up Damian into a tight hug, squeezing his eyes shut and sending fat tears rolling down his face.

“ _ Meeew,” _ Damian’s meow was muffed by Jon’s arms, and he let out a choked exhale, somewhere between a sob and a laugh. “D—Dami,  _ thank you…” _ He sniffed, swinging his body back and forth. 

He loosed the hug slightly when Damian started wriggling, but didn’t release him. “Thank you for letting me pet you and hold you all those times,” he professed, voice wavering. “And— and I promise I won’t tell any of your Teen Titan friends about this.” He moved his head, wiping his eyes on his bicep and laughing wetly. “I’m sorry I’m such a crybaby. And I’m sorry for trapping you in my apartment for a month. And for giving you a rabies shot. I’m just… I’m just so glad you’re ok and not dead.”

Someone knocked on the front door. Well, it was more of a repetitive pounding. Jon exhaled shakily and finally released Damian, pulling at his sleeve to rub at his eyes again, knowing that he probably looked a mess. He suspected that Damian heard the door too, by the way his ears swiveled and his head turned as soon as he was freed from Jon’s hold. 

He could hear his dad and mom rushing to answer the door, and Bruce’s erratic heart beat on the other side of it. “Alright,” Jon breathed. “I guess this is it. I’ll see you when they fix you, ok?”

And because his emotions were so frayed, and because he didn’t know when the next time he’d see him was, and because this was the last time he’d see  _ Shadow _ — Jon didn’t even process that his next action might’ve been strange. He gathered the small cat into his arms one last time, and placed a kiss on top of his head, between the ears.

And then he fell off of his bed.

The back of his head hit the wood of his bed frame as his body audibly thudded against the floor. He winced, reaching back to rub the back of his skull and blinking his eyes open to try and process what just happened.

It took a few quick blinks to realize that the heap of black and yellow and red laying on his chest was Damian.  _ Damian, _ fully human and dressed in his Robin uniform. Jon’s eyes bulged open, jaw slackening. The white’s of the Robin domino mask were also blinking, looking as dazed and confused as Jon felt.

And then his door swung open, drawing both his and Damian’s attention up, finding Bruce Wayne standing in Jon’s doorway, the shadows of his mom and dad peering in behind him.

There was a beat of silence, where no one breathed.

_ “Father!” _ Damian broke the silence first, crying out and fumbling to pick himself up off of Jon, kicking and elbowing him in several different organs in the process. Once upright, Damian crossed the room in two wide strides and crashed violently into his dad, embracing his midsection. Bruce still seemed (understandably) shocked, but he immediately wrapped his arms around Damian as well, pulling him in.

Following that was a series of stuttered questions that Jon had no answers for. When directed at Damian, the boy just shook his head, asking his father to take him home— and even the world’s greatest detective was sensible enough to accept that request without question, leaving the mystery be for now.

So with a borrowed change of Jon’s civilian clothes, the pair left, neither of them shooting a glance back, much less a ‘ _ thank you’. _ Jon didn’t mind. His friend was back, and he was safe, and he was  _ human. _ That’s all that mattered.

(It wasn’t until hours later, sitting bolt upright in his bed in the middle of the night, that Jon realized it was his  _ kiss _ that brought Damian back.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The real last chapter is completely finished & just needs to be edited, so expect that in the next few days \o/


	12. "Tt."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian calls Jon for a chat about their future :)

Jon was fully expecting to not hear from Damian for a long while. At very least, a week. So when he got a message only two days after Damian went home asking him to meet at the Titans Tower— he was surprised. Surprised, but happy. And also proud, in a strange sense, because it spoke a lot for Damian’s growth that he was actually _asking_ for him rather than ordering him.

_Dami_

_Thurs. July 30_

_11:57_

_I will be in San Fancisco this afternoon. Will you be available to arrive at the Titans Tower within the next hour?_

_oh yeah!! I can head over now_

_are you doing ok?_

_I will be waiting for your arrival on the roof._

Jon was already in costume, gliding around various Metropolis skyscrapers when he received Damian’s text. It was a slow day, so he didn’t mind ending his patrol early. His dad always tried to discourage him from bringing his personal cell phone when he went out, but Jon thought he was just jealous that _his_ outfit had pockets. 

He slipped his phone into said pockets, and took off for San Francisco, pushing himself just a little bit harder to get there quicker. Even if he wasn’t expecting it, he was happy to hear from Damian so soon. In hindsight, he should have expected it— nothing could keep a bat down for long.

He wasn’t too concerned about Damian’s dismissal of his question in his text, because that was normal for him, so he took it as a good sign. He was about to see him in person anyways, and _that_ alone took up most of his mindspace.

He was somewhere over Nebraska or Colorado when the surprise and excitement of seeing Damian again— fully flesh, no fur, _human_ Damian— finally wore down enough for him to actually start wondering _why_ Damian would want to meet up. He felt an increasingly familiar squirm in his stomach as he imagined different scenarios. If he were lucky, it’d be for a new mission for the two of them to start on, and if not… well, he might have something to say about the previous month. Or maybe the more _recent_ developments.

Over the last day or so, Jon had more _alone_ time to think certain things through, and he _may_ have come to certain conclusions about how he viewed a certain bird-bat vigilante superhero. And such conclusions _may_ have led to him losing sleep. But he still wasn’t certain— not about a lot of things, in that area. It was a process, and he didn’t want to jump to any conclusions. 

The whole _‘kissing Damian human'_ again thing didn’t mean anything. It didn’t! For all he knew, it was a coincidence, and he definitely wasn’t going to be the first one to bring it up.

Despite the stern voice in his head telling him to calm down, his heart was still stuttering erratically in his chest at the sight of Damian relaxing against an air conditioning unit at the top of the T-shaped tower, staring aimlessly across the bay. He slowed down enough before reaching the island to not greet Damian in a burst of wind, lowering himself down slowly. When Damian caught his movement and glanced up, however, every rational thought Jon could’ve tried to conceive flew out the window, his heart swelling and taking complete control of his body. How could he help himself? It was _Damian._

Jon broke into an ear-splitting grin and tried to rush forward, holding out his arms.

Damian intercepted him, placing one gloved hand firmly on his chest, overtop of the S emblem. “ _No.”_ he ordered.

“Come on,” Jon whined, reaching forward. His arms were longer than Damian’s, so his fingers were able to tickle around his shoulders. “I’ve missed you! I deserve _one_ hug.”

“Absolutely not.” Damian pushed against Jon’s chest, and Jon allowed himself to fall away, lip sticking out in a pout. “I did not call you here to rejoice about my return.”

“I mean,” Jon ventured, shifting back and forth, tucking his hands into his hoodie pockets. “I guess you never _actually_ left, you know?”

Damian’s face screwed up in a tight scowl. He turned away sharply, cape snapping along his side. “ _Tt.”_

Jon grinned. He missed that noise. “So, uhm.” He fidgeted, chest feeling light and kind of fluttery. He had no reason to think that Damian summoned him for any reason other than official business, but he couldn’t help the nervous hope that it was _something._ “What _did_ you call me here for?” 

Damin stilled with his back to Jon. His shoulders rose as he audibly breathed in through his nose. “What I’m about to say is… _difficult,_ for me. In part because… I’ve waited for a long time to say it. Perhaps too long.”

Jon’s eye’s bulged, his heart somehow dropping into his stomach and leaping into his throat at the same time. He didn’t _actually_ think that Damian would— “O— Oh?” He stuttered, pulling one hand out of his pocket to scratch the back of his skull. “Uh, that’s fine, take your time.” If Damian brought up how Jon unwittingly came out to him, or confirmed that _his kiss_ turned him back into a human, he thought he might just die.

Damian turned back to face Jon with a sharp glare under his domino mask. Jon quirked a half smile at him, and Damian’s glare fell, his eyes closing as he took another deep breath. “I would… _like_ you to join the Teen Titans.”

“Oh?”

Damian’s scowl returned. “What, are you disappointed _?_ ” 

“No, no!” Jon waved his hands in front of him frantically. He didn’t mean to sound disappointed. Did he sound disappointed? “I mean— Oh! Wow, really?”

Damian nodded, still appearing a bit peeved, but thankfully willing to let this instance slide. “Yes. I… I’m aware that you’ve had an interest in joining for some time. My lack of an invitation was never meant to appear as a reflection on how I viewed your abilities, or I viewed our… friendship.”

Jon cocked his head. Damian didn’t fidget like he did, when he was nervous. Instead, he tightened up, shoulders even flatter than usual, eyes staring just past whoever he was talking to. Now, he was looking over the bay at the city, lips pursed at his own admissions. A light breeze passed between them, ruffling their hair, and Jon looked down. “Why didn’t you invite me sooner, then?” he ventured. It was a question that had haunted him ever since he turned thirteen, but he’d always been too nervous to bring up.

Damian was silent for a moment. Jon let him think. “I believe… We are a cohesive two person team. I didn’t want your involvement with the Titans to interfere with our private work.” Jon looked back up, a hint of a smile pulling at his lips. Damian raised his hand again, a warning look in his face. “ _Don’t._ ”

“So you’re saying you—”

“I _said,_ ” Damian gritted out, the hand at his side balling into a fist. “That this was _difficult_ for me to say.”

Jon raised his hands in surrender, relenting.

Damian sniffed, and lowered his hand, his cape spilling over his shoulders, cocooning him. “... And I admit, in part, it was because I _enjoyed_ our private work as well. And I would like to keep doing so.”

Jon was practically biting his lip to stop himself from squealing, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Can I hug you now?” 

“No.” Without looking at him, Damian began walking to the roof access door, letting his cape glide back behind his shoulders. “Now, the rest of the team is currently gathered in the main area, so you may be formally introduced.”

“Really?” Jon’s heart jumped a bit, the reality around him actually starting to process: He was joining the _Teen Titans._ “I’ve uh, kinda already met them.” Jon chewed his lip, impulsively deciding to continue. “And— isn’t there… anything else you wanted to talk about, before we—?”

“No.” Damian answered shortly. 

_Well, fair enough._

“And,” Damian held the door open for Jon to pass through, continuing their conversation as they descended. “It’d do you well to be introduced as a teammate to the Titans..”

Jon smiled as Damian led them into an elevator, excitement bubbling in his chest despite everything else that he still felt was unaddressed between them. That was fine— there’d be time later. “Ok! But— what should I do if they ask about the time you were missing?”

Damian huffed a short sigh, his hand raising to slide though his spiked hair as the elevator began moving. "The Titans have already been briefed about my imprisonment under Klarion's curse, and how I was in _stasis_ over the course of the last month and a half. I hope you intend to keep your promise." 

It took Jon a few moments to recall the last time he promised something to Damian.

After only minimal lip flapping, he finally remembered holding Shadow to his chest as he cried and blundered out apologies, one of which being a promise to not tell his 'Titan friends' about how cute he was as a cat. Or something along those lines.

"Right." Jon said, avoiding eye contact. "Right, yeah, about your— stasis. Mm-hmm. But— what about the witch? Did your family ever catch him?" 

It was impossible to see his pupils behind his domino, but Jon was sure that Damian rolled his eyes. “That’s none of your concern. However, yes, he was apprehended. From what I viewed in his file, though, he proved… difficult… to interrogate.”

Jon whistled lowly. “Difficult for Batman to interrogate? He must be tough.”

“Try _idiodic,_ ” Damian growled.

Damian seemed to only be growing more agitated, so Jon swapped topics abruptly. “Do you think the Titan’s will like me?”

Damian sighed heavily. “Jon,” Jon perked up at the name. Damian very rarely called him by his shortened name. Usually it was _Jonathan_ , or when he was mad, _Kent._ Or _Superboy._ “Don’t worry. You’ll do fine as a Titan.”

The flutters rose up in his chest again. He honestly wasn’t even that worried about fitting in. He was good with people, and even if he had rarely worked with other heroes before… he knew that teamwork would suit him better than flying solo ever did. He opened his mouth to thank Damian, but the elevator doors opened and the other boy glided out before Jon could reply, leaving him jumping to catch up. 

“Titans!” Damian boomed, stepping fully into the center of the room. “I have an announcement.”

“‘Course you do,” Garfield grumbled, eyes not even lifting from his phone screen. “You have an entire month of needless announcements to catch up on.”

Unlike the last time Jon was here, the Titan’s were scattered in various places around the room. Garfield was sunken so far into the couch that only his head and shoulders were upright, his phone resting on his chest as he scrolled. Wally was in the back, using his speed to play a game of ping-pong by himself, while Kori and Jackson were relaxing by a table, the latter wrist deep in a bag of pretzels. Raven was the farthest removed from the crowd, sitting in a corner with potted plants, levitating above a mat, though she sank back down at Damian’s call. Everyone seemed much more at ease than Jon had last seen them— which, of course, made sense. Their team was whole again.

“Oh hey, Superboy.” Jon glanced over at Jackson, who had noticed his presence first, his hand raised in a greeting as the other carried a pretzel to his mouth. 

Jon waved back, and the attention to his presence seemed to draw in everyone else. Raven pulled herself up and began slowly walking to the center of the room, as did Jackson and Kori. Garfield even pulled himself up, Wally appearing next to him in a flash of yellow.

“Oi, super kid,” Garfield greeted, saluting him with two fingers. “What’s shakin’?”

Before Jon could think of an answer, Kori was ruffling his hair with a warm smile. “Jonathan! It is always a pleasure.”

“Thanks,” Jon chuckled, ducking away.

“It’s good to see that you’re all acquainted already,” Damian sniffed from the center of the room, placing his hands on his hips.

“Do we have a mission with Superboy?” Raven drawled, leaning her hip against the arm of the couch and crossing her arms across her chest.

“A new mission already?” Wally exclaimed. “Dude, you literally _just_ got back.”

“There is no mission!” Damian snapped. “I’m here with Superboy to announce that he will be joining the ranks of the Teen Titans.”

“Oh.” Wally slumped back into the couch. “Thank god., I don’t have to cancel my plans tonight.”

“Cool,” Garfield remarked, picking his phone back up and sinking down to his previous position. “Welcome aboard, et. cetera.”

“We are pleased to have you, finally!” Kori beamed. Jon smiled back. Lukewarm welcomes were fine, but at least _one_ of them seemed excited to have him.

“Yeah, no kidding.” Raven said. “I feel like we’ve been waiting for you to join forever.”

“Well,” Jon shrugged, smiling lightly. “I feel like I’ve been _waiting_ to join forever, too.”

“Wait,” Jackson interjected, sitting on the opposite arm of the couch as Raven, his ankle hung over his knee. “How old are you?”

“Fifteen.” Jon answered confidently, proud that he remembered to not say fourteen.

“Sooooo, like,” Wally picked up, making a circle motion with his wrist. “Why didn’t you join, say, two years ago?” 

Jon glanced to Damian, who was firmly looking in the opposite direction. Without his friend’s direction, he mulled over his answer for a few moments. And in a rare spark of confidence, he smirked, arms crossing across his chest. “Damian doesn’t like to share me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope yall wern't expecting damian and jon to actually get together in this fic tagged as damian/jon. Anyway, they hardly even (consciously) interacted with each other at all, and shit's WAY too awkward between them right now to start dating. Give it a few months. Or years. This fic was from Jon's point of view, so you got to see the stuff that he has to overcome, but Damian has his own baggage to work through as well (and, predictably, its a lot more complicated than Jon's). Is there still more story left? yeah. Is this the real end? yeah. Will there be a squeal where Jon turns into a white lab and Damian has to care for him until they find a cure because he's too emotionally repressed to try kissing him? whose to say.
> 
> And, lastly, the question on everyone's mind that I didn't answer in the fic itself: Did Jon get a new cat to replace Shadow?  
> No. He's too paranoid that the next cat he gets will turn out to be Conner, or something. They donate all their cat stuff to the Metropolis humane society (yes, even conner's cat tree. Jon doesn't know how to explain what happened to Shadow until Damian just tells everyone that he died and Jon doesn't like talking about it.)
> 
> Thanks for reading!! I had a blast writing this, and I'm really glad people enjoyed my stupid fun idea.


End file.
